OLYMPICS: Can you believe this photo????

[KCK_Halo]

From TMZ:

In a statement, Spain's Pau Gasol -- who's also a Laker in the NBA -- said, "It was something like supposed to be funny or something but never offensive in any way. I'm sorry if anybody took it the wrong way and thought it was offensive."

But wait -- it gets better. Another Spanish player, Jose Calderon -- who also plays for the Raptors -- wrote on his blog, "We felt it was something appropriate, and that it would be interpreted as an affectionate gesture." He added, "Without a doubt, some ... press didn't see it that way." DUUUUHHHHH!!?!?!!?

Confucius say: It's not wise to make fun of those who are different from yourselves.

 

[KCK_Halo]

Now the L.A. Times is all over Gasol!!!!!

Plaschke points a finger at Gasol | Olympics blog | Los Angeles Times

 

[Paul Wozniak]

OK, the first person here, WHO has NEVER done that in their lives, raise your hand.
I'm not saying what they did was right, (They should have known better), but there sure is a lot of rock throwing going on here. (Glass Houses).

 

[salsadancer7]

OK, the first person here, WHO has NEVER done that in their lives, raise your hand.
I'm not saying what they did was right, (They should have known better), but there sure is a lot of rock throwing going on here. (Glass Houses).

That is fine and daddy...but throw the rocks at the glass house behind closed doors....NOT as a photo op for the WHOLE WORLD to see.

 

[Hart5150]

Like Basketball Players, Spanish Tennis Team Took Slant-Eyed Photos, Too - Olympics

Looks like it just isn't the Basketball team.

 

[salsadancer7]

Like Basketball Players, Spanish Tennis Team Took Slant-Eyed Photos, Too - Olympics

Looks like it just isn't the Basketball team.

Ah yes.....

Here is Jason Kidd's point on this issue:

Jason Kidd Calls Out NBA's 'Double Standard' for Ignoring Spain's Photo
Posted Aug 14th 2008 3:40AM by Matt Watson


Jose Calderon tried to explain Team Spain's controversial slant-eyed pose as a "somewhat loving" gesture of respect. It's a laughably weak explanation, but so far, it's worked ... at least when you consider that the NBA has yet to issue any kind of reprimand or suggestion of possible future punishment.

Can you imagine David Stern quietly accepting that lame excuse had Carmelo Anthony or Kobe Bryant pulled a stunt like that? And yet, despite the fact that four NBA players (veterans Calderon and Pau Gasol, as well as soon-to-be rookies Marc Gasol and Rudy Fernandez) took part in the offending pose, Stern has been suspiciously quiet -- and Jason Kidd can smell the hypocrisy in Secaucus all the way from Beijing. From Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports:

"We would've been already thrown out of the Olympics," he told Yahoo! Sports. "At least, we wouldn't have been able to come back to the U.S. ...There would be suspensions." And for his European peers, well, Kidd suggested, "They won't do anything to them. It's a double standard."

The photo shoot may have taken place in Spain for an advertisement that ran in a Spanish newspaper featuring players wearing Spanish uniforms, but as Wojo correctly explains, NBA players "are always on the clock."

I'm not sure the NBA can justify handing out actual suspensions (after a Eurobasket game last summer, Darko Milicic ranted to reporters about wanting to rape the referees' mothers and daughters and escaped with a mere verbal reprimand from the Grizzlies), but at the very least, the NBA needs to make some kind of official statement.


Jason Kidd Calls Out NBA's 'Double Standard' for Ignoring Spain's Photo - NBA FanHouse

 

[TNGTony]

I keep telling you guys and you off-hand reject that you and the US media are projecting US standards and thinking to an alien culture which does not view this kind of thing as a slam or demeaning gesture. I know it's impossible for those of you who have never been exposed beyond your back yard to fathom this. But if you all want to continue your apoplectic fits projecting racists (as in thinking oneself superior because "they look funny) over what the participants and intended readers see as funny and harmless, be my guest!

See ya
Tony

 

[salsadancer7]

I keep telling you guys and you off-hand reject that you and the US media are projecting US standards and thinking to an alien culture which does not view this kind of thing as a slam or demeaning gesture. I know it's impossible for those of you who have never been exposed beyond your back yard to fathom this. But if you all want to continue your apoplectic fits projecting racists (as in thinking oneself superior because "they look funny) over what the participants and intended readers see as funny and harmless, be my guest!

See ya
Tony

Tony, I have seen it upclose and personal....alot of the fans and the athletes are racist. I have gone to La Liga games and seen it on TV. I cannot speak for anyone else....I BUT have seen it.

 

[Derwin0]

I keep telling you guys and you off-hand reject that you and the US media are projecting US standards and thinking to an alien culture which does not view this kind of thing as a slam or demeaning gesture. I know it's impossible for those of you who have never been exposed beyond your back yard to fathom this.

I have lived in other countries, so sorry, that excuse doesn't cut it.

If it did, then calling blacks ni**ers in the South would be acceptable, insulting Jews in Germany would be okay, beating women in saudia arabia would be hunky dory.

Black face acts like this would be acceptable.

I'm sorry, but that is nothing more than a weak ass apologetic excuse. It's a racist gesture any way you look at it.

 

[Van]

I have to agrea with Tony on this, just because America has went from being anal on sex to anal on racial jokes against everyone but anglo's we as Americans dont have the right to force our idea of whats right on other people in this instance. The context of the photo definitely is unproffessional but let me ask if people would have reacted the same way if the entire basketball team and tennis team for that matter had dressed in traditional Chinese atire? Would anyone have further objected if they had all added the thick black plastic gagg glasses that are sold all over the united states in novelty shops that are used in conjuction wth the Chinese outfit?

 

[TNGTony]

Have you ever done this in a picture?

Did you know that this is calling most of the world a--holes? You would be considered the rudest person in the world if a picture of you telling everyone you are okay was published in those regions that consider this as offensive and a middle finger!

Ever taken a picture with both your hands in the air with palms facing forward? You realize that in some regions of the world that is symbolic of throwing crap on anyone looking at that picture? You just insulted a good portion of the eastern Mediterranean if that picture got published there.

Is this page offensive to you? If not, why not? It's making fun of a whole class of people!
Hillbilly Humor

It all has to do with your point of view on what is and what isn't okay.

You show me a group of people in black face and afro-wigs, with "so and so's family" sign on them. I see people making fun of a guy. I have also seen people dressed as hillbillies. Men dressed as women to make fun of some one. The ONLY reason US culture finds that picture offensive is because it's white's dressed as blacks. If if it was the other way around, almost no one would think anything about it other than it was silly or funny or whatever, not racist!

Are there racists in other culture. Yup! But it's not like a southerner using the N word which has ALWAYS been derogatory in that context. However when black people call each other that it's a term of endearment!

But again, there is no way anyone who has an insular view of the world to know that and put things in proper context.

See ya
Tony

 

[Van]

It all has to do with your point of view on what is and what isn't okay.

Agread

You show me a group of people in black face and afro-wigs, with "so and so's family" sign on them. I see people making fun of a guy. I have also seen people dressed as hillbillies. Men dressed as women to make fun of some one. The ONLY reason US culture finds that picture offensive is because it's white's dressed as blacks. If if it was the other way around, almost no one would think anything about it other than it was silly or funny or whatever, not racist!

In the instance of that photo it has been a racist act in the US since the erly part of the 1900's because of the actor who used it in a movie and on stage and the song that was associated with it, had the four guys in the stands ( a couple I would swear are not of Hispanic origin ) outlined their mouths in white paint then theres no doubt the intentions. Most of us are old enough and educated enough to know by looking at the pictures what their intentions were as was much of the world and the formula racing community.

Are there racists in other culture. Yup! But it's not like a southerner using the N word which has ALWAYS been derogatory in that context. However when black people call each other that it's a term of endearment!

On this you should have noted that first it has nothing to do with wether its a southern US person or someone living in the midwest, the use of the racial slur "nigger" even though it has other actual and older terms is still a racial slur ment in the most hateful way. When any person of African descent living in the US or England uses the slang "nigga" its not the same word in any shape or way however if your not from this culture and you use it then you do so at your own risk as there is an unofficial rule that unless you as the non African are called a "nigga" then you cant use it. Regardless of where you go in the world though the original slur is universaly a slur in almost every country just as other slurs for other cultures is widly known across the globe.

Theres only so much solid ground for arguing the point of what diferent hand gestures stand for and the same goes for words as many are universaly known for their implied intent. If you want we could even go so far as to discuss table manners for varios countries and peoples and what's considered rude in the US is not in other countries and vice versa.

 

[TNGTony]

Okay Van, but just remember that spanish speakers are cautioned not to use their native word for the color black when visiting the US. The word sounds too much like the offensive word. Even though that word is used without thought throughout the world.

We have departed from the simple act in the original picture of people pulling their eyes back as a joke and my failed attempt to explain that things are different in different parts of the world. It is impossible for many to see past their own societal preconceptions.

 

[salsadancer7]

Tony...again, I am going by what I have seen WITH MY OWN TWO EYES when I attend both a Euro League basketball game AND a LIGA soccer game the European fans, especially the Italian fans and the Spanish fans would make Jets and Eagles fans from the NFL look like choir boys singing a church song. We won't even talk about some the Nazi gangs that go to the games either....not 50 or 100 but thousands!

 

[yourbeliefs]

But wait.. there's more!

Argentine Women's Soccer Players Are Latest Spanish-Speaking Group Of Olympians With "Slant-Eyes" Pics | Machochip | Puro Sports