"Former England captain Paul Ince says he is convinced John Terry is not a racist." (Source: TalkSport) So what? That's not the issue, here. The charge (and the crime, if there is supporting evidence) is that Terry racially abused a black player, not that he is a racist. No one has to prove that he wears a white cloak and hood in his spare time, or puts burning crosses on the lawns of ethnic minorities. No one cares what his private views are. All that has to be shown is that he used racist remarks. Why are people springing to try to defend him of something that is irrelevant to the charge laid against him?
There's been a lot of this today - by having various people say he isn't a racist, it's implying that he didn't make racist comments to Anton Ferdinand (Ledley King, Samuel Eto'o...) It;s the language of a defence lawyer, particularly the one representing Amanda Knox.
following on from croydon's remark about a defence lawyer - People are coming out to Terry's defence and backing him up as a bonafide non-racist as that is what happens in court - a character witness. "Amanda Knox is a lovely person, i've known her all my life"* - said person may have no clue whatsoever about whether she's a murderer, yet they still have a place in court. *not me. Just making up quotes
“I can’t stand Liverpool, I can’t stand Liverpool people, I can’t stand anything to do with them.” Gary Neville - Red Devil For Life Isn't that racist?
Spurfectionist, how on earth is what Neville said racist? It's derogatory and discriminatory, but racist? No.
I dunno. I'm not up on all this business. I just figured that if you said something like "i hate french"* that it is racist. So therefore if you said "i hate liverpudlians"* (which is pretty much what he said) then it is also. Racism doesn't have to be just about skin colour. Or do you have to say something like "french people stink"/"liverpudlians are stupid thieves"* for it to be racist? I'm not sure on the technicalities to be honest Its not something i come across much in my day to day life and i don't partake in it myself. *purely hypothetical. Not my views
Its just another person's opinion on the bigot..nothing else...we all make our judgements. at the end of the day he can argue all day that he has black team mates so how can he be racist..but we all know this is not how it works
Ok, thanks Ensil. So, from my naive perspective, can i ask anther question? Why is xenophobia not vilified in the same way that racism is? (at least it doesn't seem to be) For me they sound pretty much as bad as each other (eg, discrimination based on location rather than colour). Same with sexism i guess.
No but it is ignorant and inappropriate for a proffessional. Even if I do agree With regards to the OP. Terry has yet to apologise for what he is alleged to have said. If he is found guilty then it suggests he did not feel he had anything to apologise for, making him a racist in every definition. It's one thing for something to be said in the heat of the moment and come out wrong but Terry has done no such thing.
"Why is xenophobia not vilified in the same way that racism is?" That's actually a very interesting question. You can say that racism is vilified more than "regionalism" or "civilism" (hating people from another place or city) because it's caused much more suffering. But xenophobia (hatred of foreigners) is by definition at the heart of many if not most wars, and so has caused at least as much pain as racism. But I feel fine saying "I hate the French" when I'd never dream of saying I hate a particular race. And the reason why is...that people are arbitrary and inconsistent.
I agree. While I wouldn't readily say "I hate the <nationality>" I wouldn't dream of saying the same thing towards black/blue/orange/whatever. But, thinking about it due to this thread I think it's virtually as bad. Just my opinion of course.
I think that its because the prejudice does the damage not the feeling. What Terry is alleged to have said implies that he is prejudiced, ie judges people on an arbitrary property like colour or race rather than something objective. There is a (admittedly slightly irrelevant) story involving an interchange between the cricketers Javed Miandad and Dennis Lillee. Lillee is alleged to have called Miandad a 'cheating, little, bastard'. Miandad replied "I'm not little".
Because the majority of football fans - not to mention some journalists - are too thick to know what xenophobia is, let alone be able to spell it!
Gary Neville is trying to establish himself as a pundit. He obviously seems to feel that the best way to do this is by being deliberately controversial, and confrontational. In the way that he's got us talking about him, I suppose he's scored a few points. Not sure it will work, longer term, though.
Saying, "I hate the French" is not a criminal act of discrimination. If one were to say, however, "I am not employing you [referring to a specific French person] because you are French," that would be discriminatory. What Terry did probably does not single him out as a racist, but to abuse someone on racial grounds is a criminal act.
Having written such public bias, its amazing Sky employed him to fairly and neutrally analyse their games.
