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Olympics: Spain and the height of cultural insensitivity
This is a full page advertisement that has been running here in Spain. It's an advert for the courier company that has sponsored the Spanish Basketball Federation to the Olympics. The photo is the Spanish basketball team, in full Olympic kit, pulling their eyes back.
Of course it has created an uproar in the international media for being offensive to the Chinese. However, people involved in the making of the ad as well as the national team, don't see what the fuss is about as it was done with good intention; ask any Spaniard how they feel about this and they will chuckle.
Having lived in Spain for over two years now, nor the advert nor the Spanish reaction to this is surprising to me. It is common in Spain to hear people call Africans and African/Americans "negros" (blacks); if you behave badly, you could be told that you are behaving like a "morro" (Moroccan). Although these comments are of racist origin, I have to say that I don't find the country racist at all. In fact, I find Spain is most welcoming and accepting when it comes to people of different race and culture. Things like this are not taken seriously here but the Spanish don't understand the consequences of such acts outside their own country.
All that said, I do think that this advert is unacceptable and embarrassing for Spain to project on an international scale. When the Spaniards say they didn't mean to offend or that it was just an "affectionate wink", as much as I truly believe them, it was a colossal mistake.
Filed under: Arts and Culture
Reader Comments (Page 6 of 6)
Erid Aug 14th 2008 2:32PM
I agree... They meant no harm at all. Alfredo is right, it was only a wink to the chinese.... Long Live Spain and H. R. H. the King and Queen!!!!!
wendy Aug 15th 2008 2:51PM
is that a wink? why is it that majority of chinese people find this offensive & insulting? Obviously, their poor humor was dumb & stupid.
Dean Aug 14th 2008 2:15PM
Can`t anyone take a joke anymore? Get a life.
Kolene Aug 14th 2008 2:17PM
MY GOD what doesn't offend someone? Why don't we all just walk around with tape over our mouths and blind folds on and our hands tied behind our back? That way we wont say anything stupid or look at someone to long or accidentally touch someone, would that make EVERYTHING BETTER?????????????
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSING MY BUTT (didn't want to offend anyone) GROW UP, if you don't like it don't look at the photo.
Angel Aug 14th 2008 2:18PM
We as Americans still think that the World revolves around us. While racism still exists, most countries are not as sensitive about it as we are. In every Spanish Speaking country, a person of African Descent is called "negro"(Pronounced Neh-gro). As a "Mexican American" we still use the term "negro "to describe African Americans. It is not meant to be derogatory. If the persons skin is dark, that's what he's called in Spanish. While political correctness has its place in this Great country of ours, we must remember that different cultures see racism a little more different than we do. The picture was in poor taste, but it was not racist. Racist is using and calling a man of color deragatory names such as "Greasers, Niggers, Kikes, Waps, Japs, etc. and then thinking that those people are inferior because of their race. Those of us who speak english with an accent know and understand at least 2 languages. Are we really inferior ?
ky wildcatfan Aug 14th 2008 2:54PM
If an American team acted the way the Spaniards act in this photo. There would an outcry from all over the World.
cheri Aug 14th 2008 3:27PM
Negro (pornounced naygro) is black in Spanish. People do need to lighten up about the eye thing. The Chinese should get a good laugh from it if they have a sense of humore.
heatherWVU Aug 14th 2008 3:24PM
I bet if the American team had done this they'd be banning us from the Olympics and hanging us out to dry. I find it amusing that it's almost considered "cute" when a European nation is acting like racist idiots. We need to throw that right in there face because they are constantly calling us racist cowboys over there.
mary melcher Aug 14th 2008 5:13PM
WELL IN THE FIRST PLACE THE CHINESE ARE ABOUT AS SENSITIVE AS ANY PEOPLE WHO THINK NOTHING OF SLAVE AND CHILD LABOR USE, STEALING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND TECHNOLOGY, AND HIDING A LITTLE GIRL DEEMED "NOT PRETTY ENOUGH" WHILE SHE SANG FOR A PRETTY LITTLE LIP SYNCHER. THAT SAID, THIS DID NOT IN ANY WAY LOOK LIKE ANYTHING BUT A BUNCH OF KIDS HAVING FUN TAKING PICTURES OF THEIR ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE--I JUST DID NOT SEE IT AS AN INSULT.
Mark Aug 14th 2008 6:31PM
The answer to this is elegantly both simple and stupid at the same time.... we've finally ended up in a place where EVERYTHING is politically incorrect.. no matter what you say do or think, you're going to offend someone.
PRETTY EYES Aug 14th 2008 7:44PM
White, caucasians, europeans, whatever you call yourselves these days, always try to rationalize their deep seated hatred and prejudices. It is sad, that in the year 2008, people still do not have respect or understand the diversity of human nature. It is almost embarrassing to know that Spaniards, many of whom are mixed with Asians and Africans, are so ignorant as to allow themselves to stoop so low as to mimic the physical attributes of people, in their own country. MEDIA IS RACIST, PEOPLE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT THE SAME RACISTS THAT ASSIST IN THE ANNIHILATION OF EVERY ETHNIC GROUP ON THIS PLANET, RULE THE MEDIA. IT IS NOW TIME TO TURN OFF CHANNEL ZERO. Whites, or people not of color, should realize that melanin is the only difference we have. We are all humans. Flowers are different, animals are different, and in a few years, Whites will be the minority in America, and soon in Europe. So learn to get along with all people, and judge people on the content of their character and not on the color of their skin, shape of their heads and or their bodies. We all are humans that have contributed to the great universe and when we realize that we all need each other, respect for one another will take place. There is only one race and that is the human race, and we are losing this race.
Paul Aug 14th 2008 11:11PM
hey fools.....this doesn't fall into the catagory of being "politicly correct" Being politicly correct changes over time and current politics. If you were to make this gesture towards an Asian 100 years ago it would have been offensive then as well. Stop covering up your ignorance with this excuse. Next time you are invited to an Asian wedding (well if you ever are invited to one) make this gesture if you are in any pictures.....no?? why not?? Oh yeah, BECAUSE IT IS OFFENSIVE! .................Idiots.
jawa_edan Aug 15th 2008 9:08AM
To those who say "relax, get a life" or "suck it up" or "take it easy" or plain "just take it", here's my suggestion:
When you order food from a wop, a wetback, a chink, and even a spic eateries, let them know your easygoing nature by using those 'merely descriptive' names, ok?
Or even better, try it when you're abroad. Don't worry, you'll be alright.
ming wang Aug 16th 2008 10:47PM
Re: "Can't anyone take a joke anymore?".
Do you really expect everyone of the 1.3 plus billion people in my country (China) to laugh after seeing that photo.
A "joke" is meant for everyone who hears it (or sees it)so that they can find humor in it & it is not supposed to be at the expense of innocent people that you don't even know - only for people who knows you & KNOW that you meant no harm to them.
How many more wars does this world need over ridiculous stuff like that?
Carlos Oct 19th 2008 4:20PM
I’m a Spaniard, and I honestly think that, although I consider the ad a tad childish and unfortunate, it has not been analysed here with sufficient serenity or understood in its right context. And just as many of you accuse Spain as a whole nation of being racist, and mainly because of this latter reason, I accuse your precipitated value judgements of being clear examples of myopic xenophobia against us. Of course there are racist people in Spain, as there are in any other country (they all have more than their fair share of morons); and, yes, there is some tension in some areas arising from an extremely high influx of immigrants, especially in the later decade. But I invite all well-meaning, rational people to question the conclusion that we, as a nation (Institutionalised racism! You cannot be serious, Goodness gracious me!) are racist. If many of you who have made such claims delved a bit into your subconscious with a bit of rigour and honesty, I’m sure you would bump into many culturally received prejudices against us (probably originating as far back as when Spain and England where vying for preponderance in Europe) i.e., that we are passionate hence irrational meridionals who invented the Inquisition and to this day enjoy causing suffering to animals and therefore immediately suspicious of anything nasty.
Ready for a different interpretation? OK, here we go. Imagine the Olympic Games had taken place in, say, Sweden. Imagine now that the same “witty and really creative –not!” crew of publicity agents had decided that to convey the idea that they were really ready to win a medal, they had to wear a Viking helmet and blonde pig tails to pose for the photo, as well as blue contacts and thick soles to look taller.
Now, I ask you. Would anyone raise an eyebrow about this? I’m sure most of you have answered: well, probably not. It would probably be just considered a bit silly.
Then, what is so different then with pulling slant eyes? I’ll tell you: there is not a difference here in Spain, where the Chinese community is really small, and there hasn’t been a mentionable racial problem with them. In our history, there has been no strong tradition of considering them racially inferior (Central Pacific Railroad) or of many encounters where people mocked them by making gestures. Nor do we consider the Mongoloid fold a blemish on anyone’s beauty. There is no equivalent for the term “Chinky” in Spanish, for the information of the person who reminded us of the derogatory terms for a Spaniard existing in English. There are none for the English or Americans either. We never had a colony like Hong-Kong either.
I hope that now you have a clearer picture of the context. And now my main thesis: the two only mistakes in the publicity campaign were its silliness and the ignorance of the interpretation that would be given to this gesture in other parts of the world. Lack of cross-cultural awareness, just as severe as the one shown by some people in their posts here. That is why many of us shrug our shoulders and laugh when we see this matter totally blown out of proportion, and consider critics a bit neurotic. May be the perversity is not in the gesture itself, but in its interpretation, just as there would be no perversity in the image of an infant wearing nappies, but in those who would like to have them banned as they interpret they could be sexually arousing.
Oh, and Abha:
"Negro", in Spanish, is not the same as "nigger" in English. It means black, and is descriptive, not derogatory, just as "rubio" means blond.
"Morro" does not mean "moor" but the snout of an animal, the closest term in English being "cheek" in this context. So, when we say something like "tienes mucho morro", we are not saying that the person is behaving like a moor, but that they are being cheeky. Revise how you pronounce and interpret the letter "r". When it is double the tip of the tongue trills against the post-alveolar region of the mouth much more than when it is simple. "Moro" does in fact mean "moor". "Morro" does not.