Man arrested over racist Shola message

There's always one idiot who goes too far...

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1193880?&cc=5739


A man has been arrested after posting a racist comment on Facebook believed to be about Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi.


Shola Ameobi has been the victim of racist abuse on social network sites before

• Two held over Ameobi racism
• Ameobi 'targeted by race hate'

The 43-year-old, from Washington, Tyne and Wear, was held overnight on suspicion of racial harassment and has been bailed until November 28. Northumbria Police say the post has now been removed.

It is the second time this year that Ameobi, 31, has suffered alleged racist abuse on the social networking site after police were contacted in February.

His younger brother, Sammy, who also plays for Newcastle, was the victim of racism last year when hee received abuse on Twitter from two teenagers who eventually received warnings from the police.

A student was jailed for 56 days earlier this year after posting racially offensive comments about Fabrice Muamba on Twitter.

 

Typical mackems..............nah seriously what a fecking prick!

 

I'd like to think I'm quite a liberal minded person, I've spent time in Africa (my sister was born there) and don't harbour any hate for any race or religion in particular. Knowing how well policed social media sites are becoming, the man in question deserves no sympathy for being such an idiot, but I do worry things are starting to go a little too far with regards to criminal cases being brought up against people like this.

As far as I understand it, he made the comment ABOUT Ameobi, not TO him. In this sense, surely radical groups (both Christian and Muslim) holding placards at demonstrations deliberately chosen to antagonise their 'opponents' saying '**** off back to where you came from' or 'British Soldiers Burn In Hell' are far more offensive and aggravating than a random idiot posting a random idiotic comment on a random site.

Basically what I'm saying is when does freedom of speech end and criminal activity begin?

 

My stance on racisim - Just a quick warning it's most likely gonna offend some people -

I'm all for equal opportunities. I believe if someone is losing out on an opportunity or is treat below an acceptable level due to his/her race/skin colour or w/e, then that's wrong. Everyone should be given equal opportunities.

However, when it comes to people yelling "black bastard" and making monkey noises, it's best just to ignore them. People need to man up and stop being so easily offended. I'm not saying it's right to harass anyone, and if you're going around harassing a person because he's got a certain skin colour that you don't like, then that's unacceptable.

But I personally don't see the difference between going up to a fat person and saying "oi you fat ****ing ****, stop eating so many ****ing pies. **** off to the gym you revolting twat", and going up to a black person and saying "oi you ****ing black ****, piss off out of my face you ****ing ape". I don't see any difference, other that the fact that people will be more offended by the black insults due to the history of the treatment of blacks.

IMO they're exactly the same. Picking on someone for a physical trait. You wont see anyone locked up for calling anyone a fat bastard but you can get locked up for a long time for calling someone a black bastard.

 

Very salient point. We are creating a racism monster in some ways. As you say the lines between freedom of speech and criminal activity are becoming very blurry such is the determination of some to wipe racism from the face of the earth. I'm not sure that is the most effective means of bringing an end to racism. Education and information coupled with time would seem to be the most effective.

 

Even more hypocritical than that - days after John Terry was accused of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, shouting "**** off you black ****", Craig Bellamy was clearly shown shouting "**** off you Dutch ****" at Tim Krul - racism is disgusting as it takes an element of someone's heritage and origin, something beyond their control and uses it in a negative way to insult that person...Xenophobia is exactly the same and yet not even considered important enough to comment upon.

 

Being fat is a choice you idiot.

 

Not necessarily, but does choice really matter? Being fat should obviously be recognised as an unhealthy state, but it shouldn't be acceptable for fat people to be picked on for being fat.

Picking on fat people will rarely help them lose weight, it will more likely make them eat more for comfort and get fatter. If not that, then it will just make them depressed or suicidal.

 

Going back to the "fat being the choice" thing - If you're slim as a child and then get fat when you're old enough to know what's good or bad for you, then that's your own fault. But fat kids are fat because they eat what's in front of them, and their parents don't discourage them from eating unhealthy foods. Most people get fat at an early age because their parents are feeding them ****e. You can't really go up to a 8 year old and say the kid got fat by choice.

 

Yes being fat is a choice. Being black/white or any other ethnicity is not. I agree with you though, people are too easily offended these days. No-one seems to be able to take the piss out of themselves, so they get uber offended when someone else does it.

 

This!

Choosing being fat was a silly comparison. Being fat IS a choice for 99% of people - unless you're under 15 or so in which case it's the parents who should be ridiculed for being crap parents. I'm not saying that it's right to abuse fat people, but it's a hell of a lot worse abusing someone because of race.

You can't choose your race, and also ethnic minorities have suffered in the past from their race - though fat people have never suffered in the same way - in fact the richest, most powerful people used to be the fat ones.

 

The point still stands though really because Tash is talking about physical observations. If you change the "fat" to "ginger", its probably a better analogy to take the choice element out of it. Black people asked to be called black because they did not like the previous terms which were used to describe their skin colour. I can see why some people then find it strange that you can't use a term they've chosen themself to describe their physical appearance.

I find the whole subject has become very confused and some of the measures in place are actually counter productive to moving past the issue and consigning it to the past.

 

You can call a black person black. You just can't use their colour to suggest they are inferior by association.

Agree with the ginger point, much better example than being fat - but there is much less stigma attached as historically people have not discriminated against gingers.

 

This is not about ****ing choice here man!

Just because some people get fat by their own stupid choices, doesn't mean it makes it any more acceptable to make fun of them for it!

And no, being fat is not always a choice. Someone that was fed unhealthy foods as a child cannot control being fat. Yes, they can lose weight when they know the full gravity of their situation, but it's not easy and it's ignorant to assume that fat people are fat purely because they greedy and lazy.

Yes fat was considered a good thing before, but when human beings became more intelligent, we realised that being fat is extremely unhealthy and can short your life significantly. Not only that, we have a media that controls everything, and being fat is looked down upon and fat people are often shamed.

I know being black isn't a choice, but just because Fat is something you can avoid, it doesn't mean that making fun of fat people is any worse. Being Black is a physical trait. Being fat is a physical trait. "Black bastard" and "fat bastard" are on the same level in my eyes, and both can be considered offensive and cause pain.

Just because fat people weren't slaves at one point, doesn't mean it's any less harmful to call someone fat.

Yes being fat is a bad thing, in a sense. Being black isn't bad, but by being black or fat you're not harming anyone else and shouldn't be ridiculed. Being fat is unhealthy like drinking too much is, but it's not bad in the same way as being as drinking whilst knowing you become violent when drunk, but you don't care.

 

That's a better example, but physical traits are physical traits. You shouldn't have one that carries no punishment if used in a negative comment, and one that carries with it a potentially long prison sentence.

Choice or not.

 

Ignorant? Here's a fact for you - burn off more calories than you take in, you lose weight. Simple. The choice is anyones. I'm not ignorant that it can be hard, but a bit of will power and anyone (well 99% of people) can lose weight.

 

Yes I agree, but the way you've worded your comments makes me believe you view everyone who's gotten fat as people who have been greedy and lazy, and it's their own stupid fault. Some people get fat as kids, and that's the parents to blame, and by the time they reach an age where they can learn to control their own diets, they're already fat, and some people find it easier to lose weight than others.

Endomorphs who are fat gain fat extremely easily due to their genes, and find it extremely difficult to lose weight. They can avoid being fat, but then again, I refer to the point above that some people are fat when they're kids.

Mesmomorphs who are fat can burn fat at a much quicker rate, and again it's genes. They can also put on muscle very easily. This is why you see some naturally bigger framed younguns. Look at Lukaku. He's been massive since he was a young teen. That's not really all due to working out, because most doctors advise people to stay away from weight lifting until their bodies have finished maturing.

I don't think genes are an excuse to say that it's not your fault you got fat because you have bad genes, if you've gained the weight as an adult that is, but some people will find it more difficult to lose the weight,

 

I do agree that free speech is being eroded in a worrying way. I don't understand, for example, how saying Tom Daley's performance was a disgrace to his dead father, or telling revolting jokes about that lost little girl in Wales, is a crime.

Racism, however, is different for one important historical reason. Race has been used as a basis for inciting violence against other members of society, or neighbouring countries, for centuries. Still is in many parts of the world. Racist abuse has a potential to escalate into racial conflict that few other traits do.

If this potential weren't therre, then there would be no real difference between abusing someone on the basis of race than on any other random basis. But it is there.

Asking why racial abuse is treated more seriously than othr abuse is like asking why smoking in a petrol station forcourt is treated more seriously than smoking in any other no smoking area. It's because one has the potential to be far more inflammatory and cause far more damage than the other.

 

Well, I have had some slurs based on my skin colour from black people, and some generalisations. Like a black person said to me "you're white, therefore you are ignorant and have no soul or feeling".

It may not be outrageous, but that's still racism. But no one cares about racism towards me because my ancestors weren't slaves.

 

It's less to do with the fact that your ancestors not being slaves and more to do with:

- the opinion (while, I agree, racist) is less offensive than most racist abuse, and

- the fact that whites are still very much the dominant group in society.

The last point might seem as if it should be irrelevant but it isn't. People in a position of strength are far less easily damaged by comments than are people in a position of weakness, primarilly because there is little risk of insults against a person in a position of strength leading to violence or active discrimination.

it's the same with being male. We still run the world. Women routinely make generalisations, often quite insulting, about men. No one gets terribly upset. Most of us are even willign to laugh at the joke, if it's at all funny. Comments the other way are far more likely to be offensive because women, on virtually every statisitic except life expectancy, come off on the losing side of the sex divide.