I'm not sure what you're saying 'doesn't combat it' - do you mean my saying that they can joke in private about who looks like an image on a sweet wrapper as long as they don't do it in public?
Let's be honest, if he'd sent the caricature via private message on twitter or just texted it he would be £50k better off and still in contention for their game v Chelsea. It was deemed racist because anyone who is not Silva's friend(and that includes anyone with an internet connection)could view it and decide if they were insulted/offended or not, he took it out of his own hands by posting it.
Society sets standards of what is and is not acceptable behaviour, and they are in a state of constant flux. There are things, as mentioned, that have no place in our morality as it currently stands. To use whether or not somebody is offended as the criterion to judge whether or not something is offensive is deeply flawed, imo. Intent is an integral part of the judgement on any indiscretion in all areas of life.
Just because he didn't take offence, it doesn't mean others didn't. Why feel the need to put it online to his 650,000+ followers plus others who retweeted it and read it in the media since. Its a sterotype joke that shouldn't be tolerated, by all means do it over whatsapp or in person if the crowd suits it. Suarez isn't racist, yet Evra took offence and there was zero proof with that story, yet Suarez got how many games?
In Silva's case it's quite easy to determine whether or not he should be punished. He broke a rule. That rule even has a name, E3. He's not allowed to reference a person's colour in jest or anger and if he does, he will be punished. The severity of the punishment can be discussed, compared or ignored. The fact that anybody may have been offended, including the person he shared the joke with, has no bearing on whether or not according to the FA, his action warrants punishment. It does because he's broken a written rule which he must surely be aware of. In a more general sense: Being offended is a psychological issue; words and symbols inflict no tangible hurt. There is no criteria for what is the right or the wrong way to respond to an image or a spoken word. Society sets no standard for whose feelings matter most. The one who shouts loudest usually wins. Like you, I agree that the criterion for whether something is offensive shouldn't be judged by the fact that someone is offended. I can't think of anything that is universally offensive so all any of us can do is educate our children to be aware and accepting of others of different colours and cultures and caution them about causing hurt or harm. If everyone did this, we'd have a very good chance of changing society for the better.
IT guy at work is black, not into football, but saw the tweet in the news. Went off on one how it reminded him of stuff he received back at school and online where people send him a cartoon character or similar. It used to happen a lot. He even said he assumed the club sacked him, he is astounded he isn't banned from football.
I wasn't suggesting it was okay to have private blackface parties or laugh at other races behind their backs or anything like that. I was more pointing out that we all have a private laugh at sexist jokes, for example, but are far from being sexist in our every day lives.
That slapper who owns the Sports Witness website made her Silva article all about Liverpool. http://sportwitness.co.uk/stop-manchester-city-fans-sorry-really-shouldnt-hardest-word/ She conveniently forgets to mention the vile racist tweets aimed at Rashford and Martial by so called supporters of her own c!ub, but if nothing else she showed tribalism amongst opposing clubs supporters see racial related problems in a different light if one of their own players is involved.
I know you dont condone anything of that nature, I wasnt suggesting you did. Sorry for any confusion. I've had a certain change of heart since talking before, I've since had a chat with one of my mates. Hes had some dogs abuse in his time, so I tend to seek his opinion of anything of this ilk. His view that although it wasnt racist and know offence was taken or meant, it needed to be highlighted and shown to be unacceptable. More for the public's benefit than the footballers. Although most could see it as harmless, it may spur a minority into thinking that it was ok, and that then escalates into thinking more extreme behaviour was ok. The punishment which was negligible was more about sending a message rather than actually punishing the player. He highlighted that although we use certain terms between us that would be highly questionable if people overheard, we would never dream of referring to each other in such away kn a public forum.
That little title - role model - springs to mind. There are a lot of impressionable young minds out there looking at footballers as heroes with aspirations to emulate, goodness knows why (for the most part)
She's somehow got onto the Google priority search list, and I've saw the site on the BBC football rumours article.
I know someone who does it, he's known to us as Google Dave, he gets your site in the top 10 results. Maybe she knows him as well
Been away. What was the outcome of the new Silva video? Has his ban been extended yet? Also, what length ban has Sterling been given after he assaulted Gomez?