Yeah, just like that guy with slant eyes shouldn't take it too seriously when someone calls him slant eye. Great comparison, though.
Is the picture racist? Depends. Are you easily offended, then yes. Was it done just as a joke, maybe. I doubt these guys are a bunch of racists, but who knows. Grow some thicker skin, they're probably just joking around. I was the only white kid on the basketball court most of the time and was called cracker, opie, whitey, white boy, white chris(the other was black and called chris) etc. It didn't bother me, because I could care less what people thought of me and my race. If they truly didn't want me there they would have told me. Point being, lighten up it was probably in fun. Every body makes off color jokes at some point or laughs at one. It doesn't make you racist. If they boycott the olympics cause they don't like Asians then you have a real case against them.
If nothing else, it was done in very bad taste. I personally got used to being insulted with Asian stereotypes growing up, and really just don't care either way. I'm not sure how "harmful" the photo may be. But if the team thinks it's funny to imitate the smaller-eyed Chinese, in a way that can be construed as offensive.
If you were going to draw an Asian guy, how would you draw his eyes? If you want anyone to know he's Asian, you would draw "slanty eyes" (your words). If you were to draw a black man would you draw a freaking monkey? Do you really not see how your comparison is, well, "paraplegic" (since apparently you think paraplegic means r****ded)? Again; get a grip. Although something tells me (maybe it's your moniker...) that that won't be happening.
I can't believe some of you are trying to defend this. It's incredibly insensitive and racist; making fun of people because of a specific racial feature.
Talking about racially insensitive behavior being taken seriously: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-bianchi1008aug10,0,1238233.column?page=1
If anime has taught me anything, it's that even Asian people don't like slanty eyes. I don't know if this specific team intended for the picture to be racist, but here's an interesting blog post on the subject.
the thing is if your asian, white, black, ect. it is ok to make your fun of YOUR own race.and another thing is, if your going to make fun of a race, make fun of everybody's, even yours. perfect example is a comedian name russel peters, check him out on youtube. but getting back to the main subject, with asian's it always same that they get made fun of the most, especially men's i whiteness it everywhere. sure, white guys and black get maken fun of but its just a onetime joke and there, its done, with an asian, it keeps going and going and going and going. sure some my take it as a joke, but when your in school people keeps making fun of you, itll get annoying. and especially it is very rude and mean thing to ask the question "do you eat dogs?" really?! do you ask that question here? 1. pretty damn sure its illegal. 2. just about no asian eat dogs in america. 3.some people are actually starving in thier countrys and they need something to survive (honest fact, just like Africans eating monkeys) and no we dont ALL look the same, yea we CAN look related but there are some people that DO stand out than other but dont say we look alike just for the hell of it. and its gets annoying when somone say that your Chinese, but your actually not, just like i said, say it once, it doesnt get that annoying. but say it many, your pissed off. Now and days racism of asians are very common, especially in school. never stops. so if you ever think about makeing fun of a immigrant asian, black, white, hispanicw.e. (especially those who dont bother you and try hard in life) think again.
Here we go again, we are arguing whether one should be offended by something insensitive. As a Chinese, I don't feel offended at all, but I don't find it funny either. What's this? A bunch of 6'7 guys playing the kindergarten stuff? It's rather lame than offensive. But that's just me. I feel it's perfectly normal someone else find it funny or offensive. Can we just let people feel offended by something, freely? Even if you are Asian, you can't order other Asians NOT being offended, simply because you don't feel so. How many threads have we had over something like this already?
I'm Asian and I'm not seriously offended by this but am more bothered by the reaction of those trying to rationalize this. I don't know any members of the team outside of what I see on TV so I have no idea if they are racists or just ignorant but this type of racial spoofing does have a history of being derogatory to Asians and offensive. Stuff like this is pretty much the same as black face that was meant to mock blacks. I'm not going to get up in arms over this but I don't think something like this should be rationalized away and recognized that at the minimun it is offensive especially to the host country.
Not sure if this is racist behavior, but it is bad taste. I am an Asian and I am a little bit agitated when I first saw that. If it is a gymnastic team composed of 15 years old girls, then fine. But they are a bunch of grown men and they should have known better.
it's funny how "too sensitive" always pops in threads dealing with issues like this. "too sensitive" = i'm selfish and don't give a damn what you think or how you feel. it's almost more irritating than that "i'm don't mean to sound racist, but..." crap.
Has anyone ever thought that maybe, just maybe, they want to have slanted eyes? And that's the reason for the photo? I think this is just a cultural misunderstanding, as it was meant as a tribute and not an insult. Yet another attempt by western allied propaganda to sabotage the leftist brotherhood . I'm glad for my slanted eyes, don't know how i inherited them..but i like them. =) CHina, we all love you and please don't ban anyone, unless it's michael phelps. He is not human!
Chinese call Caucasians "big nose." If the Chinese team in Atlanta all had a picture with fake "American" noses on, and Americans got a clue as to that, they would be fainting with indignation and horror. The picture is stupid and it should be disapproved. BTW, anyone notice the need of American commentators to defend America, especially during the opening ceremonies. There are two main thrusts of defense: "This is so impressive because China is mega-huge and the government spends obscene sums [in case American ceremonies don't seem as mega-huge-cool]" and "The Chinese mind has been programmed to act like robots and machinery, so of course this cooperation is very impressive [in case American displays of cooperation are not as impressive]."
