Of course, Cavani was banned by the FA for three matches and fined £100k. Today, I am reading that Uruguay's Football Association wants the ban reviewed. I support them in taking that step.
My take on the initial ban is that it was rather steep, and in my opinion, unwarranted. Yes, Cavani's tweet read: “gracias negrito!”. I remember when I first read this tweet that the main thing which stood out is that the word "negrito" is not to the same as the derogative "n word" that is commonly used by native English speakers. It is commonly used in South America implying natives of the land rather than derogatory. But I knew from the follow on reaction that Cavani will be vilified as a racist for using the term negrito.
Needless to say, I was somehow hoping that the FA would be able to apply context to their judgement to help educate all instead of castigating Cavani who is from a different culture and obviously meant well with his message within the South American frame of reference. To my surprise, they did exactly what I had feared.
Overall, the path forward is culture training for players coming into the country to help them understand the norms of the land. But instead, we tend to wait for them to go against our norms, even in the slightly way, and we jump on them without ever factoring in their own non-malicious norms based on their background.
This Cavani situation only further illustrates the reactive nature of the current cultural cycle which is all about punishment before showing any level of understanding. I am sure that Cavani will learn from the situation but also hope that t it doesn't negatively affect his long term stay in the country.
My take on the initial ban is that it was rather steep, and in my opinion, unwarranted. Yes, Cavani's tweet read: “gracias negrito!”. I remember when I first read this tweet that the main thing which stood out is that the word "negrito" is not to the same as the derogative "n word" that is commonly used by native English speakers. It is commonly used in South America implying natives of the land rather than derogatory. But I knew from the follow on reaction that Cavani will be vilified as a racist for using the term negrito.
Needless to say, I was somehow hoping that the FA would be able to apply context to their judgement to help educate all instead of castigating Cavani who is from a different culture and obviously meant well with his message within the South American frame of reference. To my surprise, they did exactly what I had feared.
Overall, the path forward is culture training for players coming into the country to help them understand the norms of the land. But instead, we tend to wait for them to go against our norms, even in the slightly way, and we jump on them without ever factoring in their own non-malicious norms based on their background.
This Cavani situation only further illustrates the reactive nature of the current cultural cycle which is all about punishment before showing any level of understanding. I am sure that Cavani will learn from the situation but also hope that t it doesn't negatively affect his long term stay in the country.
