a écrit le 26 mai 2005 à 7h52 @ Ateme'
ou t'es frangin; je t'attends pour feter.
t'es un visionnaire!
@ tous: un article sur l'amande inflige'a SEF
Eto’s Fine An Injustice
5/26/2005 9:14:00 AM
I find it absolutely sickening that Samuel Eto'o was fined 12,000 Euros for his comments on Madrid in Barca winning the trophy, while Atletico received an only 600 Euro (600!) fine for their supporters chanting racist abuse to the Epanyol keeper.
Contrary to what people believe, Spain, as a whole, is a racist country. So too is Italy. So too is Greece. So too is Kenya or Tanzania for that matter. So too is anywhere where people of one color skin are the dominant group over another group of people, a minority both large (the US or England) or small (Italy or Spain). In the countries with the bigger minorities, US, France, UK, Brazil, it has been many decades working toward eradicating this problem. A unique case like South Africa, where for so long it was the minority ruling the country, now finds itself on the other end of the spectrum.
That brings me back to what has happened this season in Spain. The fact is that many people of African descent do NOT inhabit Spain. They have a history of Moorish takeover, colonial conquests, and most recently fascist dictatorship. And I’m not saying one should necessarily TODAY bend over to eradicate the ills of one’s society from hundreds of years ago; while I believe both Aragones AND Eto’o in that Aragones is NOT a racist, his comments, in a society such as Spain and a time such as this, needed to be dealt with more harshly than the paltry fine he received. And that’s why he challenged it - he perceived it as a symbolic fine, and he was not going to admit that he did anything wrong. If the fine was larger, it would not have been a symbol, but a way of saying, "You are still the coach, but those comments are unacceptable." Period.
So here was Eto’o, perhaps the greatest striker in the world at this moment, discarded by Madrid, not wanting to play there because of the racist Ultras, who calls Madrid "bastards" or what it translates in Spanish, and he receives the equivalent of most people’s wages for 6 months. Atletico supports its fans publicly, saying the time honored disgusting cliche of "it’s only a few of our fans" (thus wiping the club’s hands of the situation), and they receive a 600 Euro
(600!) fine, which most people spend out about town on the weekend.
Therefore, the message in Spain is that, there is no criticizing, cursing, or showing disfavor towards the General’s sacred team, under any circumstances, especially if you are a black player that is one of the most popular at our rival. Because, in fact, if you are black, we can insult you SOLELY based on that fact, with monkey noises and banana chants, because we are ignorant and don’t know the world of modernity, and hey, we can get away with it, because Spain is a racist country, still looking backwards instead of forwards.
At least that is how this outside observer sees it.
Conrad Benedetto, Philadelphia, USA
Do you have a view on this iddue? If so, e-mail your comments
ou t'es frangin; je t'attends pour feter.
t'es un visionnaire!
@ tous: un article sur l'amande inflige'a SEF
Eto’s Fine An Injustice
5/26/2005 9:14:00 AM
I find it absolutely sickening that Samuel Eto'o was fined 12,000 Euros for his comments on Madrid in Barca winning the trophy, while Atletico received an only 600 Euro (600!) fine for their supporters chanting racist abuse to the Epanyol keeper.
Contrary to what people believe, Spain, as a whole, is a racist country. So too is Italy. So too is Greece. So too is Kenya or Tanzania for that matter. So too is anywhere where people of one color skin are the dominant group over another group of people, a minority both large (the US or England) or small (Italy or Spain). In the countries with the bigger minorities, US, France, UK, Brazil, it has been many decades working toward eradicating this problem. A unique case like South Africa, where for so long it was the minority ruling the country, now finds itself on the other end of the spectrum.
That brings me back to what has happened this season in Spain. The fact is that many people of African descent do NOT inhabit Spain. They have a history of Moorish takeover, colonial conquests, and most recently fascist dictatorship. And I’m not saying one should necessarily TODAY bend over to eradicate the ills of one’s society from hundreds of years ago; while I believe both Aragones AND Eto’o in that Aragones is NOT a racist, his comments, in a society such as Spain and a time such as this, needed to be dealt with more harshly than the paltry fine he received. And that’s why he challenged it - he perceived it as a symbolic fine, and he was not going to admit that he did anything wrong. If the fine was larger, it would not have been a symbol, but a way of saying, "You are still the coach, but those comments are unacceptable." Period.
So here was Eto’o, perhaps the greatest striker in the world at this moment, discarded by Madrid, not wanting to play there because of the racist Ultras, who calls Madrid "bastards" or what it translates in Spanish, and he receives the equivalent of most people’s wages for 6 months. Atletico supports its fans publicly, saying the time honored disgusting cliche of "it’s only a few of our fans" (thus wiping the club’s hands of the situation), and they receive a 600 Euro
(600!) fine, which most people spend out about town on the weekend.
Therefore, the message in Spain is that, there is no criticizing, cursing, or showing disfavor towards the General’s sacred team, under any circumstances, especially if you are a black player that is one of the most popular at our rival. Because, in fact, if you are black, we can insult you SOLELY based on that fact, with monkey noises and banana chants, because we are ignorant and don’t know the world of modernity, and hey, we can get away with it, because Spain is a racist country, still looking backwards instead of forwards.
At least that is how this outside observer sees it.
Conrad Benedetto, Philadelphia, USA
Do you have a view on this iddue? If so, e-mail your comments
