If in England we believe it is unacceptable to refer to people by their race in the context of an argument (even Suarez accepts that he didn’t mean it nicely, as per your quotes) then that rule has to apply across the board. You don’t punish English or English speaking people for doing so but then let off people from other cultures.
I hate to get all UKIP about it, but if you come to England you abide by our rules and conventions, you get punished or praised according to our cultural norms and our values (or rather the prescribed rules and values outlined by the FA, based on those prevalent in the country).
I’ve enjoyed this tete a tete in all honesty mate, but from my side at least I think it’s run its course (not to deprive you of your right to reply )
Well I notice that you’ve accepted that it’s ok for me (and the English) to think that referring to someone by their skin colour in the context of an argument is a shit cultural value, but haven’t backtracked from subtly accusing me (us) of racism or xenophobia for saying as much. This time I mean it, I’m done here haha.
Don’t really think that’s for you to decide. Just because in the Spanish speaking world people have been getting away with that so far, does not mean it’s ok. Don’t think you’d go up to a white guy and say “hey, blancito” (or whatever lol ) because you simply don’t highlight the majority’s skin colour like that.
Context is vitally important. If it’s a nickname among likeminded people in that cultural context, well, their choice.
This, however, happened in England and Evra is French. So neither in the cultural context in which it happened, nor in that of the target, this is anything but an insult.
Secondly, and that is even more important, Suarez used it during an argument. Not as an innocent, light-hearted jest among friends, but as an insult. Plain racist, nothing else. And he can fuck off with his justification about how his grandma calls his fucking vampire grandpa in bed, because this has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Huh mmm negro can be used and is used in a derogatory way in South America.
Context is quite important, since for example: my brother’s nickname is negro.
Actually that’s totally normal here too. I get called blanquito by randomers all the time when I’m out, and it’s not offensive in the least (though it’s arguably, in a vaccum, a more offensive comment than negro; negro highlights a desirable trait–tanned skin colour–whereas blanquito highlights an undesirable one–palidness ). In general in spanish it’s far more normal to call people by names like ‘gordito’ (fatty–this is used extremely often as a friendly term, and I’m sure @TheSpecialCnut will tell you he’s got at least one friend who’s called this, pretty sure we all do), ‘flaquito’ (skinny/overly-skinny), or simply ‘italiano’, ‘chileno’, whatever…here I’m called affectionately by my friends ‘yanki’ (yankee), and it’s simply not meant in any derogatory way (though I wish it were).
Indeed, which is why I find it incredibly strange that you, and @JakeyBoy, and the whole world continues to ignore Evra’s part in it. If Suárez is a racist–which I find incredibly absurd to call someone off the basis of some lite as fuck mid-game trash-talk/provocation with a guy who barely even understands the language in which the interaction took place–then by all of your barometers so is Evra, yet I’ve not heard anyone even address this, or dare to.
Tbh, I think it’s pretty clear neither is a racist, given that both have worked under a number of clubs in a number of different countries with a number of different nationalities and not been anything but well-liked and respected in their dressing rooms, but the fact that Suárez was singled out in the issue and not Evra, is again, telling. Why? Well, because racism/xenophobia against south americans isn’t a fashionable issue in England or the current political sphere, and because making Suárez out to be the villain fit a very, very easy narrative to work (such that, again, all of you have swallowed it whole).
Except Suárez has no relation to Madrid or Barcelona except that his wife lived there…he’s an Uruguayan whose first european experience was in Amsterdam and whose second was in Liverpool, lol.
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) because you simply don’t highlight the majority’s skin colour like that.