There's a nice long thread about it in the international forum....it should probably be moved here anyway.
Funny OR racist? Is that really a question you have to ask yourself? Anyways gonna hop to that other thread
I think it's disturbing that so many people use this "I'm ____ but I'm not offended!" line whenever these kind of things come up I mean, do those people honestly believe that's a valid argument?
Whether it's racist or not it certainly isn't funny. It was barely funny when kids did that in 3rd grade, and coming from an adult group of professional athletes it certainly isn't funny.
That's actually why I think this is very wrong, even if it was done with no ill will: These guys are famous in their country and are role models for kids. Them doing this sends the clear message that it's ok to do it - it also sends that message to kids in a kindergarden and in elementary schools - who might have kids of Asian heritage in their classes. Also, someone said that if the same thing had been done, just with everyone making a "big lip" gesture to mock black people, there would have been an outrage. It is true that Asians protest less when this kind of thing happens.
Am I the only one who was relieved to learn that the photo was only racist? When I first read "controversial photo" I thought they would be nude.
The picture IS offensive and IS REALLY stupid. Most people aren't as sensitive to racism of Asian groups versus, say, blacks or other ethnicities. Remember when Shaq got away with saying stupid "Chinese" words when he was going to play Yao? If this had been a slander against blacks or Hispanics then the outcry would be much stronger. It should be just as strong and ethically reprehensible if you're offending Asian peoples or other races.
spaniards are some of the most racist people on earth, and people think USA is bad...try to spend some time living there, ****s horrible.
Here's the pic. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ot...l-red-faced-over-slit-eyed-Olympic-photo.html Looks pretty mean spirited, imho. theSAGE
i don't think the intent to do harm was there. but that's usually the case. While perhaps not racist, it's certainly in bad taste.
I wish the Chinese team or another Asian team would pose for a group photo and open their eyes with their fingers and dedicate it to the Spanish team.
This Yahoo article mentions that because the Spanish team has not yet apologized for the pose, the controversy is picking up steam and that they got booed at this morning's game. I wonder how Yao greeted Pau Gasol after the game? http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Spanish-basketball-team-poses-for-offensive-pict?urn=oly,100152
I still believe that they had no idea that it was racist or offensive. Like I said before, there is a strong adoration towards china Calderon spoke on it: calderon "What happened was that during a photo session where the Spanish national team was unveiled, one of our sponsors asked as to pose with a 'wink' to our participation in Beijing and we made an oriental expression with our eyes," he wrote on his Internet site. "It seemed to us to be something appropriate and that it would always be interpreted as an affectionate gesture. However some European media did not see it as such," he added. "I want to express that we have great respect for the Orient and its people, some of my best friends in Toronto are of Chinese origin."
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say for all the asian kids in elementary school, this is pretty racist... Why didn't they put on spray on tan and pretend to be black? What, they don't adore Angola? Who uses the word orient anyways? Must be a european thing.
Just an incredibly immature act on their part and certainly racist. You would think that they were in grade school, but no... the Spaniards are representing their country in international play. I feel sorry for Spain. The nation didn't deserve this black eye from a group of "grownup" kids. Unbelievable. Impeach Bush/Cheney.
It's a shocking picture. What I don't get is that some company actually paid to have that picture in the newspaper? That's r****ded. "Hey, look at our company. We're idiots."
