I said [video=youtube;vC0OMNVsE-Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC0OMNVsE-Q&feature=player_embedded[/video]
Oh Jesus Christ! Now Twitter is trending with "sack Alan Hansen" because he used the word " coloured" During a statement where he says there's still & always more that can be done to combat racism. Seriously this is going too far.
And that pr*ck Toby Young has jumped on the bandwagon saying he should apologize for offense caused on a Telegraph blog. What? To a middle class fat white dude?
DF this whole issue is just going to run and run. You raised some very interesting points above which are very pertinent to the Suarez situation in particular and the whole topic of language and racism. My father taught me to respect everybody no matter where they came from unless they disrespected you. I have tried to live up to that. During my 60+ years the language that I use has had to change to meet that criteria however the basic criteria has remained the same. In my travels I have found that the principle holds good everywhere, whereas acceptable language and attitudes often vary greatly. Playing football in Germany over 30 years ago, it was acceptable to them to refer to me as "Tommy" but became very upset if I called them "Fritz" (don't know what would have happened if I had substituted Adolf!). I France it was fine for them to call me "Rosbif" but again became very annoyed if I called them "Frog". In the Caribbean you can get in very serious trouble by using Man or Boy in the wrong context and that has nothing to do with race! Whilst I have been here in Australia I have noticed a growing dilemma regarding the attitudes to Aboriginals and non-white immigrants. As you point out we in the UK have become fixated for the main part on the attitudes and opinions of Afro-Caribbean peoples as the basis for our racism rules and regulations. Even taking that relatively small standpoint we are in a mess and certainly confusing the indigenous population. Yet we have a very diverse society with influences far beyond Africa and the Caribbean. Having said all of that the general principle still holds good for me. So I too am confused as to how we can equitably translate a principle into rules and regulations.
Hello one and all. I've mostly been a visitor and observer on this forum but I thought I'd pick a nice straightforward, non-controversial topic to put my first post in I've followed this thread with interest and there have been some good points made on both sides of the argument. Here's my take on it all: Ok, on one hand we have very unreliable evidence for the case, I'm no lawyer but I'd guess that in a court of law, this would have been thrown out on the basis of no evidence had it just been Evra's word against Suarez's. The problem Suarez has is that he admitted to it, this is what I would guess will be the damning evidence the FA are using to justify the ban and fine. The fact that he admitted to it has put the FA in a quandary imo. If they let him off then they risk looking like they are letting someone, who has admitted guilt, off with no charge. If they did charge him then it looks like they are charging someone with poor evidence (which is now the case). Essentially the FA were stuck between a rock and a hard place in terms of what to do. Personally, I think this is he reason it took them so long to reach a decision. It came down to how the FA would look with whatever decision they reached. they obviously want to look tough on racism so they took the decision to use Suarez's admission to damn him. Had Suarez denied all knowledge then he would be fine. The very fact that he admitted it though speaks volumes for me. When he could have denied it, he didn't, as he obviously thinks there is nothing wrong with what he has said, so it all comes down to perception. This is why the club, manager and players will stick by him. He isn't a racist in my opinion (the FA report and Evra agree, if reports are to be believed) , he's just someone who said the wrong thing, very naively, at the wrong time. I think the club will fight tooth and nail on this and will take it much higher if the FA don't overturn the conviction.
just publish the transcripts and evidence. there are journos out there, today, who have access and are saying that our qc thanked the board after the hearing and that we approved every member of the panel before... so people KNOW. they must publish.... and our club is waiting to read the offical report when journos say they saw it already
Great post and I think you have it spot on there 100%. Some of our own fans will have blinkers on the matter whilst rival fans who despise him anyway will always lay in to him calling him a full on racist. He shouldn't have said what he did to give Evra and the FA ammunition to take it this for. Someone should teach the lad some English insults...c'mon...we all ask for them in other languages when you make a foreign friend.
Slightly OT, but look at the main FA board, can anyone spot the Afro-Caribbean on there? Nah, me neither! The FA’s “firm” stance against Racism, is it a cover-up for their own institutionally racist tendencies? I mean, it’s nearly the end of the world (according to the Mayan’s) and still not a Black/Coloured (for the Non-PC), Afro-Caribbean (for the PC) on the board? Why? Want to kick racism out? Then start with the man/woman/transgender person in the mirror! The above rant is what you get when you’ve had too much coffee and been watching conspiracy documentaries all week!
