Pedrito
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2015
- Messages
- 1,032
- Gender
- Male
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- Christian
- Political Affiliation
- Conservative
- Marital Status
- Married
- Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
- Yes
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Recently, a high profile sporting personality had (what has been described as) a meltdown. That high profile personality, who was the firm favourite to win a particular sporting contest, and was the darling of the home crowd spectators, spat the dummy when things were not going as expected. The match was eventually lost. Lost to a Japanese.
An experienced cartoonist who does not live in the USA published a cartoon that cleverly depicted the childishness of the sporting personality’s tantrums. Unfortunately, that personality was American, female, and ethnically African. (The personality was Serena Williams. She lost to Naomi Osaka.) A hullabaloo ensued. The cartoonist was accused of being racist. Depictions of Negroes from the 1830s (nigh on 200 years ago) were dragged up in defence of the accusations.
If anyone has not seen the cartoon, it is featured in the following news story: http://time.com/5392351/serena-williams-cartoon-herald-sun/
Of course, had the personality been ethnically white, the charge could simply have been that his cartoon was anti-female (sexist).
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But what if the dummy-spitter had not been American? What if she had been say, South African? Nigerian? Namibian? Tanzanian? Would the reaction have been the same?
It is interesting to note that there was no particular reaction from the large population of Greek descent in Australia when the same cartoonist published an unflattering cartoon about Nick Kyrgios. See: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...s-slammed-racist-cartoon-Serena-Williams.html
As one comment on the backlash stated: “Poor behaviour in any sport needs to be called out.” Unless, it seems, one is of a particular ethnicity as well as being the citizen of a particular country (and maybe not male).
Could that in fact be the real problem?
Could the real problem simply be that an episode of pointedly childish behaviour was pointed out from across the waves, instead of from within?
As one comment on the backlash stated: “Poor behaviour in any sport needs to be called out.”
Or are there indeed distinct (if unadmitted) exceptions to the rule?
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Recently, a high profile sporting personality had (what has been described as) a meltdown. That high profile personality, who was the firm favourite to win a particular sporting contest, and was the darling of the home crowd spectators, spat the dummy when things were not going as expected. The match was eventually lost. Lost to a Japanese.
An experienced cartoonist who does not live in the USA published a cartoon that cleverly depicted the childishness of the sporting personality’s tantrums. Unfortunately, that personality was American, female, and ethnically African. (The personality was Serena Williams. She lost to Naomi Osaka.) A hullabaloo ensued. The cartoonist was accused of being racist. Depictions of Negroes from the 1830s (nigh on 200 years ago) were dragged up in defence of the accusations.
If anyone has not seen the cartoon, it is featured in the following news story: http://time.com/5392351/serena-williams-cartoon-herald-sun/
Of course, had the personality been ethnically white, the charge could simply have been that his cartoon was anti-female (sexist).
==============================================================================================
But what if the dummy-spitter had not been American? What if she had been say, South African? Nigerian? Namibian? Tanzanian? Would the reaction have been the same?
It is interesting to note that there was no particular reaction from the large population of Greek descent in Australia when the same cartoonist published an unflattering cartoon about Nick Kyrgios. See: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...s-slammed-racist-cartoon-Serena-Williams.html
As one comment on the backlash stated: “Poor behaviour in any sport needs to be called out.” Unless, it seems, one is of a particular ethnicity as well as being the citizen of a particular country (and maybe not male).
Could that in fact be the real problem?
Could the real problem simply be that an episode of pointedly childish behaviour was pointed out from across the waves, instead of from within?
As one comment on the backlash stated: “Poor behaviour in any sport needs to be called out.”
Or are there indeed distinct (if unadmitted) exceptions to the rule?
==============================================================================================
