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From The Guardian:
Spain's Olympic basketball teams have risked upsetting their Chinese hosts by posing for a pre-Games advert making slit-eyed gestures. The advert for a courier company, which is an official sponsor of the Spanish Basketball Federation, occupied a full page in the sports daily Marca, the country's best-selling newspaper.The advert features two large photographs, one of the men's basketball team, below, and one of the women's team. Both squads pose in full Olympic kit on a basketball court decorated with a picture of a Chinese dragon. Every single player appears pulling back the skin on either side of their eyes. The advert carries the symbol of the sport's governing body.
The Spanish basketball team, by the way, wears apparel from Chinese brand Li Ning (yes, the guy who lit the Olympic flame). We wonder how long this relationship will last?
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Racism is stupid, so stupid either way. Shall we ask then, stupid or REALLY stupid?
Perhaps they are not making the slanty eyed gesture and are just pointing to the void between their ears.
not too bright indeed.
Ouch.
Spain forgot to bring their "Wait. Are we allowed to do this?" guy in their Olympic delegation.
It is stupid, however I don't think the idea was offending anyone. Same thing when people represent any Spaniard near a bull or dancing Sevillanas (traditional dance from the south). Best thing for all us to live better is to relax a little more.
I agree that it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but it is pretty funny.
I don't think they mean to be offensive, and because there is no intended malice it should not be taken seriously.
Americans in particular are waaaay too sensitive about race issues, which really just draws negative attention to something which should be celebrated i.e. we look different, and that's awesome, because otherwise the world would be a phucing boring place...
I don't get offended when people do that to me (unless they were really trying to be assholes). But it's still a pretty stupid thing for a national team to be doing. I can't imagine a Chinese team going to Spain and pointing to their "da bi zi" for a photo shoot.
Coming from a non-Chinese viewpoint, I don't see any intended offense in this. Not a smart thing to do, perhaps, but not provocative.
Racist AND stupid. Not funny at all.
Of course this is not racism; it's just having a few laughs off of 1/5 of the human race base on their stereotyped racial characteristic. Lighten up people.
Everyone's a little bit racist sometimes;
Doesn't mean everyone goes around committing hate crimes...
I dont think that this was really meant to be racist.... but this gesture in its entirety was an extremely stupid move by the spanish... not only are they insulting over half of the world's population, they are insulting the hosts of the country, that they are about to visit
I, myself, being Chinese, didnt take huge offense from this photo, but if i had not realized the that spanish team wasnt intentionally trying to be racist, i would be quite mad about this photo
For those very patriotic Chinese who misunderstand the meaning of this gesture, it must be extremely degrading to their pride as a Chinese... speaking from their point of view, racism in general is a horrible, horrible thing and its not as if Chinese people are any different
to the spanish team: how would you like it if for example some chinese made some racist/stereotypical passes at you? You probably would not like it... and even though your pride might not let you see it, there are other people in the world, other than just you
so *open your eyes*, be more sensitive to others, and plz, next time, be SMARTER about the things you say or do, cause stuff like this, will come back to bite you in the butt
*disclaimer, i dont actually bear a grudge against the team, im just saying to make a point
What's wrong with squinty eyes?
Lighten up? It's all a joke? Not racist? Depends on who is on the receiving end. If the Chinese fans called the Spanish team a team of hairy apes(as a joke) would that be offensive?
It's an advertising on an Spanish newspaper made with Spaniards (the basketball team) for Spaniards readers. In Spain that gesture has neither offensive nor racist connotations. So, where is the problem?
"If the Chinese fans called the Spanish team a team of hairy apes(as a joke) would that be offensive?"
No way
to me it is quite obvious that the english press started this ridiculous "spanish are racist" topic only for one reason- they want the olympic summergames 2012 to be set in london and not in madrid. that´s why the press now tries to defame spain with such articles. a harmlessly meant gesture like this on a photo doesn´t have a thing to do with racism. the spanish people are open minded and show with facts what they stand for. that is for example leading the list of adopted kids from china.
just my two cents.
@Thegerman: The 2012 olympic games ARE in London!
I don't think this picture is racist by the way. Stupid yes, but not racist. People are too easily offended.
"If the Chinese fans called the Spanish team a team of hairy apes(as a joke) would that be offensive?"
You are implying that the slanty eyed thing was intended as an insult or a gesture indicating superiority over another group of people. I don't see it that way, no more than I see someone who wears an afro wig at a party as feeling superior to black people.
Personally, I think the ad is kind of dumb. But stupidity in itself is not a crime.
I think this is not racism. When the Spanish team won the world championship they wore a Japanese flag on their heads, as if they were saying: "Look, we have conquered Japan". Now they put Chinese eyes as saying. "Look: we are also Chinese". In Spain, nobody thinks a different skin or face aspect is insulting. The problem is in the UK and USA where they think any reference to another race is racism, that is because the true racists are them, who cannot understand that refering to another cultural identity can be just an innocent joke. The proof is that the Chinese who live in China have not been offended.
perhaps, but how about the Chinese who live in Spain where a general anti-chinese racism is widely tolerated?
as I've said many times to my friends here in Spain, just saying over and over "we're not racist," or "that joke about chinese people is only meant for a laugh," doesn't mean that you are not racist. Especially when a large chinese immigrant population is yet to be integrated into mainstream society despite coexisting in Spain for generations.
This stupid AND racist add only continues the message that making fun of and marginalizing chinese people in Spain is OK.
maybe instead of posing for pointless photos the chavales should be working on their defense since their going to need it for the upcoming game against the US!
it's downright disrespectful and all around immature. i can't believe full grown adults are responsible for this! spaniards may think people that take offense are uptight, but it's ignorant for them not to understand. advice: use some of your siesta time to catch a foreign film! and try watching it in the original version, none of the overdubbed crap.
if we turn the tables and a non white made remarks about racial characteristic jokes about whites then wouldnt they find that offensive. To say, it is only humour is not JUSTIFIED, since there are children being bullied for these ethnic characteristics and to ridicule someone for something they cannot help is NOT JUSTIFIED. It is not funny, there are no-go areas in joke making like jokes against disability, blacks, asians etc. because it is not their fault that they are that way. There is malice because basically they are going to another country and making fun of people within their own country, it's DISRESPECTING people and degrading, HUMAN RIGHTS SAYS WE ARE ALL EQUAL, so we ought all to be treated equally. One world, one people.