Spanish basketball team poses for offensive picture [Archive]

AnnEsthesia

08-13-2008, 03:29 AM

How dumb are these people? Why not just apologize?

Spain (http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/esp/)'s Olympic basketball team posed for an advertisement prior to the Games (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2540221/Spanish-basketball-red-faced-over-slit-eyed-Olympic-photo.html) which appears to show all its players slanting their eyes, a move that could offend its Olympic hosts in Beijing. The ads, for a Spanish courier company, appeared in the Spanish-language newspaper La Marca.

http://f3.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_sports_oly_experts__2/ept_sports_oly_experts-633900547-1218549565.jpg?ym.sy1_ClT_CzSdG

As the uproar over the picture has grown today, more information about the advertising shot has come to light. The New York Times reports that Spain's basketball team is sponsored by Li-Ning Footwear (http://olympics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/spanish-ad-spurs-charges-of-racism/), a Chinese company founded by Li Ning, the final torchbearer who was hoisted along the top of Beijing National Stadium during the Olympic Opening Ceremony finale. The ad reportedly references the Spanish team recently extending their contract with the footwear giant for another four years.

The Spanish-language paper El Mundo has a piece debating whether the ad was racist (http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elmundo.es%2Fjjoo%2F2 008%2F2008%2F08%2F12%2Fbaloncesto%2F1218564829.htm l&sl=es&tl=en&hl=EN&ie=UTF-8) that basically calls out the British press for trying to smear Spain's good name. But they miss the point. Whether the picture was made in good fun is irrelevant. It was a ridiculous idea that was bound to upset a lot of people.

It's baffling that nobody involved in the picture -- from the photographers to the players -- even seemed to consider that this ad would be looked at negatively. Did it not occur to somebody that it might not be a good idea to mock an entire continent before the world's largest athletic competition that, by the way, happens to take place on that continent. Were they not aware of an invention called "the Internet" that allows pictures taken in Spain to be transmitted all over the world for the eyes of everyone?

And now that the inevitable controversy has hit, they're still defending themselves when a simple, "the ad was in poor taste, we apologize" would have sufficed. This story would be slowing down if the Spanish Basketball team had apologized immediately. Now it's just picking up steam.

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Spanish-basketball-team-poses-for-offensive-pict?urn=oly,100152

apdst

08-13-2008, 03:33 AM

Apologize for what?

micfranklin

08-13-2008, 03:37 AM

I wouldn't call it racist, just not cool.

Stoner

08-13-2008, 03:38 AM

Kind of funny. People need to stop being so politically correct. Relax and enjoy life. Complaining all the time is not productive. It's not a big deal.

lily

08-13-2008, 03:40 AM

I saw this story on the news, but was half awake and I could have sworn they said the American team did this.........thank God it wasn't!

AnnEsthesia

08-13-2008, 03:41 AM

They offended the host country and a whole race of people. That is a big deal. They should man up and say they are sorry for being stupid.

Stoner

08-13-2008, 03:58 AM

They offended the host country and a whole race of people.

You don't know that. You can't speak for an entire nation. Most people aren't as PC as most and find this funny. They're going to China to compete so they do the slanted eye thing. I laughed.

suedanim

08-13-2008, 04:00 AM

Its racial mockery ie racist behavior.

You're cool with it as long as its any other demographic, until it turns on you... then its reverse discrimination.

Stoner

08-13-2008, 04:03 AM

Its racial mockery ie racist behavior.

To the PC, yes. To normal people it's funny.

You're cool with it as long as its any other demographic, until it turns on you... then its reverse discrimination.

When did you become psychic?

AnnEsthesia

08-13-2008, 04:05 AM

Racial mockery is not ok, and having manners has nothing to do with PC.

xLIBREx

08-13-2008, 04:07 AM

I hope there is eventually such a strong PC backlash that these phonies, who couldn't care less about not offending people because PC is simply a cover story for control and power, have to hide in fear.

PC breeds the very hatred it pretends to be trying to rid the world of. Oh the irony of liberalism.

Elrathin

08-13-2008, 04:09 AM

Complaining all the time is not productive. It's not a big deal.

I'll remember that next time a conservative bitches about a burning of the U.S. flag.

What the basketball team did was very unprofessional and wrong. Not wrong enough to ban them or anything severe like that, but wrong.

NortheastCynic

08-13-2008, 04:14 AM

I wasn't offended by the action, nor did I think it was funny. Not because it was 'offensive', but because it wasn't at all clever.

-NC

xLIBREx

08-13-2008, 04:15 AM

I'll remember that next time a conservative bitches about a burning of the U.S. flag.

You sound like a broken record on that issue. There is such a huge world outside the left-right dichotomy so many people seem to be stuck in. The fact they can't see beyond this is why our rights are eroding at an enormous rate while people worry about stupid bullshit like flag burning and guys making Chinese eyes. Talk about missing the 800lb gorilla in the room.

aaronssongs

08-13-2008, 04:47 AM

I personally think it was in poor taste...and just downright "stupid".

Stoner

08-13-2008, 04:58 AM

How many people think the same posters who act outraged and overly PC about issues such as these make just as many off-color jokes as the rest of us when they're not online?

xLIBREx

08-13-2008, 05:02 AM

Stoner, people who espouse their PC bullshit are liars. They don't give a flying fuck about how offensive something was. That is simply a front. What they really care about is control over people's thoughts and behaviors. That is their ulterior motive. They want to beat down everyone who doesn't accept their group-think like Howard Roark.

lily

08-13-2008, 05:26 AM

I did it in first grade.......I thought it was funny then.........then I grew up.

Mouth Full Of Teeth

08-13-2008, 11:59 AM

Its racial mockery ie racist behavior.

You're cool with it as long as its any other demographic, until it turns on you... then its reverse discrimination.

Bingo!

AnnEsthesia

08-13-2008, 02:33 PM

I did it in first grade.......I thought it was funny then.........then I grew up.

Exactly. :clapper:

Shoey

08-13-2008, 02:40 PM

I personally think it was in poor taste...and just downright "stupid".

I respectfully agree Aaron. This type of "behavior" by the Spanish basketball team reminds me of the "throat slash" in sports, totally uncalled for.

slappy

08-13-2008, 05:39 PM

I'm just wondering, for those who didn't find the photo disrespectful, what about something like this?

http://souljonz.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/blackface_nocap.jpg

Am I being too PC if I find this image demeaning to blacks? If not, how far does the Spanish team have to go before they end up in the same boat as this guy?

NortheastCynic

08-13-2008, 05:44 PM

It's disrespectful if you take it seriously. I don't take that pictures seriously enough to be offended by it. Likewise, I don't take 14 or so morons who play basketball for Spain seriously enough to be offended by anything that they do.

Why take them seriously?

-NC

slappy

08-13-2008, 06:14 PM

Stoner

08-13-2008, 06:18 PM

What about the cartoons on this website?[/URL]

Jokes are not racism. Only racism is racism.

And yes, some of those jokes on that site afe fucking funny.

ilikegw

08-13-2008, 06:44 PM

Like lily said, she did it in first grade and then she grew up. It appears to have been immature and not very nice but Chinese people have slanted eyes so maybe they were doing it as a sign of affection and "when in Rome...."

I don't find it offensive, but I think they could have gone about things differently if they were trying to make themselves more acceptable to the Chinese.

I have a Chinese friend and my husband affectionately calls her Patti Wing Wong. To some people that may seem to be offensive but she gets a kick out of it and has never been disrespected by it.

NortheastCynic

08-13-2008, 07:38 PM

So is there any form of ridicule that you would find disrespectful? I'm not asking about offensiveness, mind you. I'm simply asking whether you think it's possible to mock another person or group to the point that it becomes disrespectful.

(Link NSFW)
What about the cartoons on this website? (http://www.resist.com/CARTOON%20GALLERY/CartoonIndex.htm)Disrespectful? It's clear that the website you linked to, Slappy is run by people who hate...well...everyone. The cartoons they post are clearly representative of their hatred of every minority imaginable. That said, to answer your question in particular, I think I'm coming at this from a different angle. I don't believe that a 'group' can be 'disrespected through mockery, only individuals. So I'll look at it individually. When does mockery of an individual become disrespect? When the individual doing the mocking is serious. When he/she actually means what he/she says. As a result, the group who runs the site you posted the link to clearly 'disrespects' individual minorities...to say the least.

-NC

December

08-13-2008, 09:24 PM

How dumb are these people? Why not just apologize?

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Spanish-basketball-team-poses-for-offensive-pict?urn=oly,100152

So what is the problem here? I don't get it....

potter

08-13-2008, 09:42 PM

Its racial mockery ie racist behavior.

You're cool with it as long as its any other demographic, until it turns on you... then its reverse discrimination.

I'm not real familiar with Spanish culture so I really cannot condemn it as mockery. They may have just been saying "we are all Chinese at the Olympics"?

Nah...that's stupid.... :unreal:

slappy

08-13-2008, 10:30 PM

Disrespectful? It's clear that the website you linked to, Slappy is run by people who hate...well...everyone. The cartoons they post are clearly representative of their hatred of every minority imaginable.
So we have to know what's in the heart of the person making the gesture before we can decide whether it's disrespectful? Aren't some gestures simply disrespectful because we have an objective standard of respect that we'd like to be shown and that, in turn, we feel ought to be shown to other people? I simply don't see where the degree of hate that might lurk in the heart of the joker comes into it.

That said, to answer your question in particular, I think I'm coming at this from a different angle. I don't believe that a 'group' can be 'disrespected through mockery, only individuals.
I'm not sure what you mean here. If I say that all Mexicans are lazy, aren't I disrespecting a group?

So I'll look at it individually. When does mockery of an individual become disrespect? When the individual doing the mocking is serious. When he/she actually means what he/she says. As a result, the group who runs the site you posted the link to clearly 'disrespects' individual minorities...to say the least.
I think you might want to consider the nature of mockery. It's often premised on factual claims about the target. The people who run the racist cartoon site I linked earlier very likely are serious in the sense that they believe the factual claims that are being mocked in their cartoons. As to the Spanish basketball team, in what sense do you suppose that they aren't serious in their imitation of Chinese people's eyes? Surely you wouldn't say that they don't really believe that Chinese eyes are smaller or less round than their own eyes. So in what sense are they not serious?

-NC[/quote]

NortheastCynic

08-13-2008, 10:38 PM

So we have to know what's in the heart of the person making the gesture before we can decide whether it's disrespectful? Aren't some gestures simply disrespectful because we have an objective standard of respect that we'd like to be shown and that, in turn, we feel ought to be shown to other people?Ah, but Slappy, if we had an objective standard of respect that we'd like to be shown and in turn, we feel ought to be shown to others, we wouldn't have anything to debate here. The fact is that we don't have an objective standard for such action. We can judge 'intent'. We can infer using our reason what an individual actually believes. If I think someone really means something that I consider to be racist, I'll act accordingly, if I believe that that person is joking/doesn't mean what he is saying, I will also act accordingly.

I'm not sure what you mean here. If I say that all Mexicans are lazy, aren't I disrespecting a group?Only if every individual Mexican feels disrespected. Likely, you will be disrespecting a very large group of Mexicans, but I, nor you can say for sure that all of them feel offended and/or disrespected.

I think you might want to consider the nature of mockery. It's often premised on factual claims about the target. The people who run the racist cartoon site I linked earlier very likely are serious in the sense that they believe the factual claims that are being mocked in their cartoons. As to the Spanish basketball team, in what sense do you suppose that they aren't serious in their imitation of Chinese people's eyes? Surely you wouldn't say that they don't really believe that Chinese eyes are smaller or less round than their own eyes. So in what sense are they not serious?This to me is where common sense comes into play, I see a group of grown men smiling/laughing while pulling their eyes/face in order to make their eyes appear slanted. I don't understand how they can be acting seriously in this photo. If they are, then what is their point?

-NC

potter

08-13-2008, 10:42 PM

This to me is where common sense comes into play, I see a group of grown men smiling/laughing while pulling their eyes/face in order to make their eyes appear slanted. I don't understand how they can be acting seriously in this photo. If they are, then what is their point?

-NC

Emulation?

NortheastCynic

08-13-2008, 10:44 PM

Hey Potter,
Can you elaborate?

Let's assume they were, in a serious manner, emulating the Chinese...No what?

-NC

potter

08-13-2008, 10:54 PM

Hey Potter,
Can you elaborate?

Let's assume they were, in a serious manner, emulating the Chinese...No what?

-NC

Then I would say it's up to the chinese people to decide if it was a compliment or not. If it was just misunderstood good intent perhaps the Chinese will understand that many people make cultural blunders without the intent of racism.

NortheastCynic

08-13-2008, 10:56 PM

I see what you're saying.

My take on the matter is simple: I really don't care. If Chinese people are offended by this, I can understand that. I personally would not have taken part in this ad had I been on the team for a few reasons:
A: It's not funny
B: It will likely piss more than a few people off

-NC

xLIBREx

08-13-2008, 11:41 PM

You know what, are the Chinese offended? Has their government come out and demanded an apology? Or is it just a bunch of white guilt mongers who want to control everyone else's thoughts who are "offended?"

ilikegw

08-13-2008, 11:47 PM

No one has posted anything about that yet. Maybe they're hoping the Chinese come here and see the article and picture and then get pissed off about it.

slappy

08-13-2008, 11:53 PM

Ah, but Slappy, if we had an objective standard of respect that we'd like to be shown and in turn, we feel ought to be shown to others, we wouldn't have anything to debate here. The fact is that we don't have an objective standard for such action.
With respect, that's simply untrue. Human beings are quite capable of recognizing the behavioural elements of mockery. Generally, the look-fors are 1. pointing to a particular feature or behaviour of the subject and 2. making that feature or behaviour the subject of laughter. Sure, the person perpetrating the ridicule can say "Oh no, I'm laughing with you", but the claimed intent is irrelevant. It's not even a question of whether the disrespect is taken lightly or seriously by the target. While it may be that, in particular instances, the target will laugh off the ridicule, this doesn't change the fact that he was ridiculed, in an objectively obvious way. Trust me: I teach school for a living. This is behaviour that I see all around me, every day.

We can judge 'intent'. We can infer using our reason what an individual actually believes. If I think someone really means something that I consider to be racist, I'll act accordingly, if I believe that that person is joking/doesn't mean what he is saying, I will also act accordingly.Again, I'll ask you. In what sense do you feel that the basketball players didn't mean what they were doing in the picture? Do you think they would all, if asked, deny that they were imitating the eyes of Chinese people?

I'm not sure what you mean here. If I say that all Mexicans are lazy, aren't I disrespecting a group?
Only if every individual Mexican feels disrespected. Likely, you will be disrespecting a very large group of Mexicans, but I, nor you can say for sure that all of them feel offended and/or disrespected.Let's not confuse a disrespectful act with the feeling of being disrespected. I would have thought that a disrespectful act was, on its own, worthy of censure. Does a Mexican have to be in the room in order for me to express disrespect for Mexican people?

This to me is where common sense comes into play, I see a group of grown men smiling/laughing while pulling their eyes/face in order to make their eyes appear slanted. I don't understand how they can be acting seriously in this photo. If they are, then what is their point? To me, common sense says that these men are offering a crude imitation of a facial feature shared by a large number of Asians. They apparently think this is funny. I refer you back to my two-step test for mockery.

AnnEsthesia

08-14-2008, 12:01 AM

I guess we are all missing the fact that the Olympics is supposed to draw the world together in friendship and camaraderie. Mocking the host country is hardly good sportsmanship, let alone courteous.

ilikegw

08-14-2008, 12:09 AM

Where is the Chinese outrage?

blackbetty

08-14-2008, 12:23 AM

I did it in first grade.......I thought it was funny then.........then I grew up.

Exactly.

It has nothing to do with PC. People did this as kids to make fun of those who looked different from them.

That's not cool no matter what your age.

NortheastCynic

08-14-2008, 12:27 AM

With respect, that's simply untrue. Human beings are quite capable of recognizing the behavioural elements of mockery. Generally, the look-fors are 1. pointing to a particular feature or behaviour of the subject and 2. making that feature or behaviour the subject of laughter. What I said has little to do with recognizing mockery. What I said is that there is no objective standard of respect, only subjective standards.

Again, I'll ask you. In what sense do you feel that the basketball players didn't mean what they were doing in the picture? Do you think they would all, if asked, deny that they were imitating the eyes of Chinese people?By not being serious I mean only that they did what they did in jest.

Let's not confuse a disrespectful act with the feeling of being disrespected. I would have thought that a disrespectful act was, on its own, worthy of censure. Does a Mexican have to be in the room in order for me to express disrespect for Mexican people?It's difficult to respect someone who isn't directly affected. If you say something terrible about me out loud right now, how am I to be disrespected? There is no objective standard regarding what is or is not disrespectful to <insert ethnic group here>...none.

-NC

Mouth Full Of Teeth

08-14-2008, 12:43 AM

It's funny to watch this thread along with the "Democrat Party Called Me Today" thread and see the responses to each thread...

slappy

08-14-2008, 12:49 AM

What I said has little to do with recognizing mockery. What I said is that there is no objective standard of respect, only subjective standards.
I don't buy it. Help me out here. Imagine three strangers standing on a bus platform. Two of them are Chinese and you are the third. Imagine you turn to the other two and imitate the Spanish basketball players, including the smile that many of the players have on their faces. Now, with that image clearly in mind, explain to me what subjective differences might exist between the two Chinese people such that one would feel mocked and the other would not. I'm not asking you to explain how one would be offended or angry while the other shrugged it off. I'm asking how one might consider your gesture disrespectful while the other would disagree.

By not being serious I mean only that they did what they did in jest.I'm sorry, but your use of "serious" and "jest" here are vague to the point of leaving me rather confused. You don't mean to say that they weren't serious that Chinese people have narrow eyes, do you? They were serious about that. So the humour is not in the sort of teasing where you call a skinny man fat. There's no irony involved. The humour, therefore, seems to be in the fact that Chinese people look a certain way. How is that not ridicule?

It's difficult to respect someone who isn't directly affected. If you say something terrible about me out loud right now, how am I to be disrespected? There is no objective standard regarding what is or is not disrespectful to <insert ethnic group here>...none.I've already provided you with a two-step objective test for one kind of disrespect (mockery). Here are a few other simple signs of disrespect: ignoring a person when he speaks to you, comparing a person to an animal, belittling a person's intelligence, belittling a person's hygeine, suggesting that a person is disliked, using expletives or epithets in connection with a person's name or the name of a group to which a person belongs. (Remember, I teach high school...I see this behaviour in the halls every day.) While it's true that, between friends, some of these signs of disrespect may be turned on their heads and used as tokens of fondness, the fact remains that, among strangers, on the subway platform where you and the two Chinese men are standing, the meaning of these gestures is very difficult to doubt.

NortheastCynic

08-14-2008, 01:05 AM

I don't buy it. Help me out here. Imagine three strangers standing on a bus platform. Two of them are Chinese and you are the third. Imagine you turn to the other two and imitate the Spanish basketball players, including the smile that many of the players have on their faces. Now, with that image clearly in mind, explain to me what subjective differences might exist between the two Chinese people such that one would feel mocked and the other would not.It is impossible for me to tell you why a hypothetical Asian would or would not be offended or disrespected. I can tell you [from personal experience] that some Asians find jokes/gestures similar to what the Spanish team exhibited entertaining. There is no subjective code by which we can tell whether something is disrespectful or not. There may be similarities between each individual's respective 'code', but there is not one end all be all guide as to what is or what is not offensive/disrespectful.

I'm sorry, but your use of "serious" and "jest" here are vague to the point of leaving me rather confused. You don't mean to say that they weren't serious that Chinese people have narrow eyes, do you? They were serious about that. So the humour is not in the sort of teasing where you call a skinny man fat. There's no irony involved. The humour, therefore, seems to be in the fact that Chinese people look a certain way. How is that not ridicule?Some would call it ridicule. I can understand how some find the picture offensive. That said, what I mean by 'in jest' is simple, the gesture was made without malice in mind. It was stupid and it wasn't funny, but that doesn't alter the fact that some may not find the picture disrespectful.

I've already provided you with a two-step objective test for one kind of disrespect (mockery). Here are a few other simple signs of disrespect: ignoring a person when he speaks to you, comparing a person to an animal, belittling a person's intelligence, belittling a person's hygeine, suggesting that a person is disliked, using expletives or epithets in connection with a person's name or the name of a group to which a person belongs. (Remember, I teach high school...I see this behaviour in the halls every day.) While it's true that, between friends, some of these signs of disrespect may be turned on their heads and used as tokens of fondness, the fact remains that, among strangers, on the subway platform where you and the two Chinese men are standing, the meaning of these gestures is very difficult to doubt.I was in high school 2.5 years ago, trust me, I know what you're talking about. I do not need a "What is disrespect according to Slappy" guide, but being provided with such proves my point. Your particular definition of disrespect and your examples of mockery are likely not shared by every single human being on this planet. Not everyone shares your beliefs regarding mockery and disrespect. That alone qualifies as proof that individuals hold their own definition of disrespect.

Pardon the sporadic, rushed posting, I'm a little preoccupied at the time.

-NC

slappy

08-14-2008, 01:22 AM

It is impossible for me to tell you why a hypothetical Asian would or would not be offended or disrespected. I can tell you [from personal experience] that some Asians find jokes/gestures similar to what the Spanish team exhibited entertaining. There is no subjective code by which we can tell whether something is disrespectful or not. There may be similarities between each individual's respective 'code', but there is not one end all be all guide as to what is or what is not offensive/disrespectful.
Can you at least come up with some reasonable-sounding interpretation that one Chinese person would give your gesture on the subway platform such that he would not interpret your actions as an attempt at mockery?

Some would call it ridicule. I can understand how some find the picture offensive. That said, what I mean by 'in jest' is simple, the gesture was made without malice in mind. It was stupid and it wasn't funny, but that doesn't alter the fact that some may not find the picture disrespectful.
Since when does ridicule require malice? You said yourself that some people would call it ridicule, but you find no malice in the photograph. Therefore, one person can ridicule another without any specific intent to harm him. What ridicule does require, however, is the pointing out of a feature or behaviour and the attempt to laugh at it. I don't see how anyone can deny that those two things are happening in the photograph in question.

I was in high school 2.5 years ago, trust me, I know what you're talking about. I do not need a "What is disrespect according to Slappy" guide, but being provided with such proves my point. Your particular definition of disrespect and your examples of mockery are likely not shared by every single human being on this planet. Not everyone shares your beliefs regarding mockery and disrespect. That alone qualifies as proof that individuals hold their own definition of disrespect.
I'm not arguing for a universal definition of disrespect. Far from it: what is disrespectful in one part of the world may be just fine in another. I am, however, arguing for an objective definition. We don't all walk around with different ideas of what it is to be ridiculed in the way that we all walk around each subjectively preferring chocolate to vanilla or Blues over Jazz. High school students all recognize ridicule. They can spot it from a mile off. You ought to know this, being such a recent graduate yourself. Likewise, the two Chinese men on the hypothetical platform are going to agree with each other about one thing: you are ridiculing their facial features. Aren't they? Is there even one reasonable alternative interpretation for one of them to give the gesture?

NortheastCynic

08-14-2008, 02:38 AM

Slappy, it has become apparent to me is that what we have here is a failure to communicate...and it's my fault. I was not clear enough about my views here, due, in large part to the fact that, as I said, I'm multi-tasking right now. I do not dispute that the picture was a form of mockery, nor do I dispute that it can be seen as disrespectful. I say only that the picture did not offend me [because I don't take anything the Spanish B-ball team does seriously], and I don't believe that any Asian that is offended should take the Spanish B-ball team seriously.

Sorry for the confusion, it was my fault.

-NC

jose

08-14-2008, 04:24 PM

In Spain this is not considered Politically incorrect, we still have a sense of humor and a tolerant society

xLIBREx

08-14-2008, 05:51 PM

In Spain this is not considered Politically incorrect, we still have a sense of humor and a tolerant society

And I haven't heard the Chinese government complain either. So far, the vast majority of the protesting is coming from white liberal Americans who think they have the right to control the way everyone on the planet thinks and interacts.

ilikegw

08-14-2008, 09:22 PM

I'm still waiting to read about the Chinese outrage over this picture. Has anyone posted it about it yet?

slappy

08-14-2008, 10:16 PM

I'm still waiting to read about the Chinese outrage over this picture. Has anyone posted it about it yet?

I wouldn't look for too much outrage from people who live in China. Chances are extremely low that any of them has ever been called a "slant" or a "slope" or even seen the gesture in the photo before. As a matter of fact, here's some indication that the Chinese in China are relatively innocent about anti-Chinese racism. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26193825/)

As for Chinese people who have lived their lives in the minority, however, that's a very different story (http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=5563668&page=1):

"It's something that I haven't seen since I was a kid," said Sarah Smith, a spokesman for the Organization of Chinese Americans in Washington, D.C. "I can't speak for what is considered funny in Spain. I don't know if it has the same impact that it would here. It's clearly racist, and not even in a jovial way." The Chinese-American organization also issued a statement from deputy director George Wu, calling the photo "disturbing" and "divisive."

"It is unfortunate that this type of imagery would rear its head during something that is supposed to be a time of world unity," Wu said.

Stoner

08-15-2008, 12:11 AM

I wouldn't look for too much outrage from people who live in China.

Exactly. Very few people on the planet get bent out of shape over petty shit. We're probably the most PC country in the universe. Most other people know how to take a joke.

Osborn F. Enready

08-15-2008, 12:13 AM

Getting upset over this issue is PC in entireity.

People don't have a right to NOT be offended.

Stoner

08-15-2008, 02:29 AM

LOL, the Spanish tennis team is doing it too!

ROFLMAO, I love it!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/00790/spainrace_790866c.jpg

lily

08-15-2008, 02:35 AM

This is rather off topic.......or not.........My latest great-niece was adopted from China. My niece told me they were watching a movie and there were Chinese people in it.......and she asked why they looked different from her and her family. :lmao:

Stoner

08-19-2008, 06:34 AM

Argentina is getting in on the action now.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/00792/arg460_792528c.jpg

The image shows players Maria Potassa, Eva Gonzalez, Fabiana Vallejos and Andrea Ojeda smiling broadly as they pull back the skin on the side of their eyes, in a crude impersonation of Chinese people.

There is no suggestion that the four footballers intended to cause offence.

The photo was published - without provoking controversy - in the Argentine sports newspaper Ole on Aug 5, to accompany a preview of the team’s first match of the tournament against Canada.

It was taken more than a week before adverts featuring the Spanish men’s and women’s basketball teams in similar poses sparked international criticism.

Last Thursday a photo emerged of members of Spain’s Olympic women’s tennis team pulling the same face earlier this year, in anticipation of an upcoming match against China.

The rows sparked by the photos have highlighted how standards about the acceptability of racial stereotyping vary widely between countries, even in the West.

Much of the criticism of the Spanish teams has come from the English-speaking blogosphere, prompting some complaints from Spain about alleged Anglo-Saxon hostility to Madrid’s 2016 Olympic bid.

The players involved in the photos have expressed their shock that others may find them offensive. Pau Gasol, one of the Spanish basketballers, said it was "absurd" to consider the gesture racist.

"I'm sorry if anybody thought or took it the wrong way and thought that it was offensive," he wrote on his blog.

Argentina’s women footballers had a torrid time at the Beijing Games, losing all their three games, including a 2-0 defeat to China in their final match.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2581173/Beijing-Olympics-Now-Argentinas-footballers-photographed-making-slit-eyed-gesture.html