In Suarez's case, addressing a person by referring to their appearance, including race, is common practice where he comes from. Spanish terms for "fatty", "skinny", "shorty", "whitey" and even "chino" – literally meaning "Chinese" – are often used in the way many British might say "mate". Although most English-speakers might find any of these terms offensive, they are usually taken neutrally in Latin America and most parts of the world, and in some cases can signal close friendship.
The fact that Suarez uttered the term "negrito" during the heat of battle between two such fierce rivals, Liverpool and Manchester United, to Fabrice Evra, a player he has no history of friendship with, arguably undermines any claim that the Uruguay striker was being friendly.
However, I also believe an 8 match ban and being charged with Racism is an unfair punishment. If anyone was exchanging insults with anyone else, a lot of offensive words will be uttered towards the mother, sister and family. It becomes a competition of how much you can hurt the opponent with your words. I have no doubt that these insults were exchanged between Suarez and Evra, except Suarez, to his doom used the word "Negrito" at some point in their hostile exchange of words.
So Evra backed down and took advantage of Suarez's naivety. This in my opinion is equivalent to someone challenging you to meet him outside the bar for a fight, and then when you do walk outside , you find that he's already called the cops on you.
Certainly it is not right, nor a politically correct thing to say by Suarez, but these two weren't exactly having a civilized conversation, THEY WERE FIGHTING! So forgive me for not having too much sympathy for Evra in this instance.
A hypothetical question to ask would be if the FA would ban anyone, and for 8 matches, for calling someone "White Trash"? I think not.
I've always believed a racist is not defined by the words he says, but by the way he treats people of different races. If someone has a problem with a certain person who just happens to be black, it does not imply that the person is racist!
If Suarez was indeed racist, Liverpool's Johnson should have a huge problem being on the same team as Suarez. On the Uruguayan national team side, Suarez has played alongside Alvaro Pereira, and has also played alongside countless other "Individuals of an African descent" at Ajax. If Suarez really was racist, someone would've said something to support it (Besides Evra). In addition, the FA should have investigated his interactions with people of other races before slapping him with an 8 match ban and branding him as a racist because of one word he uttered during a heated argument with a rival player.
And on that note, If I was in Suarez's position , I would certainly NOT shake hands with Evra, who blew the issue out of proportion, caused Suarez to miss 8 matches with his team, brought him bad press, had to deal with FA trials, and is now viewed as the devil himself by many. If Suarez was a weaker player, Evra would have perhaps ruined his career.
P.S. I am not a fan of Suarez , nor am I Liverpool fan. This is simply how I see it.
No comments:
Post a Comment