I couldn't bear to hear the whole thing.....

[Sigma_Orionis]

But maybe you can

All the time I heard this it reminded me of an episode my old man told me when he worked.

The General Manager at where he worked was this older Northern Italian (from Trieste nonetheless). My old man headed the tech department there and once the General Manager told him, "please don't hire Black People". My Old man's answer was "Where the fuck do you think we are? Switzerland?"

[Morrolan]

cringeworthy. can't listen to the whole thing either...

[Rommie]

Not so much that I can't bear to listen so much as I don't give a crap about a racist man trying to berate his girlfriend for not being so. Plus geez, his argument seems to be pretty much one of "you don't understand culture," ie he thinks everyone else is as racist as him so they'll judge her for associating with non-whites. No chance he's the racist, I'm sure.

Anyway, I now live in the country where when this happens everyone dismisses it just as "well he's a known jerk" and carries on as normal, because they pride themselves on "not taking this stuff as seriously," so the cynic in me wonders if anyone here will ask me what the fuss is about.

[Sigma_Orionis]

I'm betting 2 to 1 that nope, you will hear "Wow, you people in the US sure are racist, why can't you bask in multiculturalism like us?"

[FZR1KG]

I liked where he tells her she can take him home and fuck him, do whatever she wants in private, just don't hang around with black people in public.

And, she's half black, half Mexican and this idiot still doesn't get it. wtf.

[Sigma_Orionis]

.......And, she's half black, half Mexican and this idiot still doesn't get it. wtf.

Easy: idiot with money.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Hehehehe, this is the kind of comeback assholes like him deserve....

Dani Alves eats banana thrown at him during soccer match

The Brazilian was taking a corner during Barca's 3-2 win at Villarreal's El Madrigal stadium when a banana landed at his feet.

Maintaining his composure, Alves picked up the banana, peeled it and took a bite and got on with the game.

And to add salt to the wound, Brazilians are a mixed lot, even more than us.

[Rommie]

I'm betting 2 to 1 that nope, you will hear "Wow, you people in the US sure are racist, why can't you bask in multiculturalism like us?"

Honestly, it's more the idea that they pride themselves as not being as "sensitive" and "trigger-happy" as Americans. Like I guess they've now effectively kicked this guy out of the NBA and are forcing him to sell the team (which they are of course allowed to do as a private organization) as a message that such comments are not tolerated, and that would never happen here- people would think it's going too far for sure.

Yeah, basically we see it as sending it a strong message that such things are unacceptable, here it's one of "we're not racist, you're just too sensitive because we don't historically have the issues you did and are bringing it over here." (Because, you know, not like they invite people to live here and such.) I have had several friends argue to me that you should still be able to call those licorice candies "n*gger babies" because apparently here they still did so until a decade or two ago, and you should be able to refer to black people with whatever word without repercussion. Dutch people are nice but really weird on this point!

[SciFiFisher]

I'm betting 2 to 1 that nope, you will hear "Wow, you people in the US sure are racist, why can't you bask in multiculturalism like us?"

Honestly, it's more the idea that they pride themselves as not being as "sensitive" and "trigger-happy" as Americans. Like I guess they've now effectively kicked this guy out of the NBA and are forcing him to sell the team (which they are of course allowed to do as a private organization) as a message that such comments are not tolerated, and that would never happen here- people would think it's going too far for sure.

Yeah, basically we see it as sending it a strong message that such things are unacceptable, here it's one of "we're not racist, you're just too sensitive because we don't historically have the issues you did and are bringing it over here." (Because, you know, not like they invite people to live here and such.) I have had several friends argue to me that you should still be able to call those licorice candies "n*gger babies" because apparently here they still did so until a decade or two ago, and you should be able to refer to black people with whatever word without repercussion. Dutch people are nice but really weird on this point!

I think it has a lot to do with how people decide to deal with concepts like perception and offending other people. In the U.S. we have evolved into this horrible over reactive response to every perceived and implied offensive phrase or word. And the deciding factor is not what you said, how you said it, or what your intent was. The deciding factor is the person who hears it gets to decide if they are offended. No matter how trivial it may seem if they are offended we are supposed to respond by vilifying the person who said it. I even heard someone say that they felt we weren't doing enough about this issue because the 'white players were not speaking up". Given the amount of outrage that practically EVERYONE was expressing I found it incredible that this was one of the talking points.

For the record I don't think what the owner of the team said was "trivial" but the point is that in spite of the huge amount of outrage being expressed at all levels someone actually expressed the opinion that we were not outraged enough.... WTF? So far all we haven't done is burn down his house, kill his dog, and hang him from a tree.

I think this is what other cultures see and hear. IMO it gives a distinct impression that we are not very tolerant in the U.S.

[Sigma_Orionis]

I even heard someone say that they felt we weren't doing enough about this issue because the 'white players were not speaking up". Given the amount of outrage that practically EVERYONE was expressing I found it incredible that this was one of the talking points.

You should ask that someone: why blame the white players when the NAACP itself was in bed with Mr Racist Idiot?

[Swift]

Not that I approve of what the guy said, but there was an ethics professor on NPR yesterday that made an interesting point.

This was a private conversation between two people, one of whom happens to own an NBA team. Even ignoring the open questions as to whether the girlfriend recording the conversation was legal (she said she had permission) and how the recording was made public (she claims she didn't make it public), there is the question as to how much should a private person be punished for opinions expressed in private.

It wasn't like he had a press conference and announced this (like that idiot rancher from Nevada). This was a private conversation, and a conversation for which he would reasonably have an expectation that it would stay private. He is not an elected official or some other public figure, he's a businessman, who is being forced out of business. Nothing he said was about illegal activities and he committed no criminal acts.

It wasn't even as public as most of the things we say here on FWIS.

Does the immorality of his statements outweigh the principles of freedom of speech and thought? And is a $2.5 million fine (from a private organization), the forced sale of his property, and the public damnation fit his "crime"?

[Sigma_Orionis]

Like I said in the OP I couldn't bear listening to the whole thing. But your points are all very reasonable. I think the overreaction comes from the fact that it was well known amongst people who looked the other way because there was money involved (like the NAACP). And now that the game is up, all the parties involved are showing their "purity".

[Swift]

Like I said in the OP I couldn't bear listening to the whole thing. But your points are all very reasonable. I think the overreaction comes from the fact that it was well known amongst people who looked the other way because there was money involved (like the NAACP). And now that the game is up, all the parties involved are showing their "purity".

What will be interesting is when the shoe is on the other foot.

What happens when a minority player or coach or owner in a major sport says or "tweets" something offensive about white people, or women or baby seals? (only the last one was a joke) Will they be banned from their sport for life? Will then receive any punishment at all?

[SciFiFisher]

Like I said in the OP I couldn't bear listening to the whole thing. But your points are all very reasonable. I think the overreaction comes from the fact that it was well known amongst people who looked the other way because there was money involved (like the NAACP). And now that the game is up, all the parties involved are showing their "purity".

What will be interesting is when the shoe is on the other foot.

What happens when a minority player or coach or owner in a major sport says or "tweets" something offensive about white people, or women or baby seals? (only the last one was a joke) Will they be banned from their sport for life? Will then receive any punishment at all?

Only if it's about clubbing baby seals.