Official Spanish federation announcement

[aroba]

http://www.feb.es/NoticiaDesarrollo.asp ... icia=21758

8/14/2008 Beijing/Madrid, August 14th, 2008. Due to the controversy that has arisen in the press because of a gesture made by the Spanish men´s basketball team in an advertisement photo taken before the Olympic Games in Beijing (which imitates the slanted eyes that the Spanish culture affectionately identifies with Asians in general and Chinese people in particular), the Spanish Basketball Federation feels the need to express the following:
1. That, as the immense majority of the Spanish and international general public have fortunately understood, and as the embassy of the People´s Republic of China in Spain has corroborated, that the only significance of said gesture was one of affection, friendliness and recognition, which is what this Federation feels for the people of China and their country.

2. That the FEB has maintains a now long relationship with basketball in the People´s Republic of China, and is committed to its development, which is highly reflected in the tight collaboration found in referee, player and coach training, as in the regular visits that the different teams of the Chinese Basketball Federation have to our country, as they are invited by the FEB to compete and prepare for their international competitions.

3. That beyond athletic relationships, the FEB has been one of the first Federations in the world to maintain commercial relationships with Chinese institutions and businesses, such as the athletic shoe and apparel company Li-Ning, which is one of the oldest agreements that the FEB has. Molten and Lenovo are other Asian companies that collaborate with the FEB, the first of the which has already dedicatedly contributed to the biggest success in Spanish basketball history, two years ago when the world championship medal was conquered in 2006, in Japan precisely.

For these reasons, the FEB considers that this controversy, which is completely gratuitous, was generated in bad faith by some members of the press who wanted to harm not only the FEB´s image, yet also the image of our country and our sport, so we therefore reserve the right to take appropriate legal action in order to safeguard it.

Once this press release has been published, the FEB considers the topic closed, and will not make any further declarations regarding the situation.

Chinese embassy in Madrid, also states that "we don't consider an offense to chinese citizens nor a racist sign the picture of the spanish basketball team. And I'm sure it's not been interpreted as an offense neither at China".

Some people in Spain says that "let's allow the China national team to make a picture dressed as bullfighters"

[RedCross]

This topic has been blown out of proportion by the ignorance of Western media who cannot understand the way that different cultures interact. The picture was in no way racist and this topic should be put to rest.. along with all those other controversies that are arising at the Olympic games (i.e. the pretty Girl lipsyncing).

The western media gets offended at everything that does not meet the status quo of their culture, and is ignorant enough to point fingers and try to make the world behave in the same way that they do.

[Malinhion]

This topic has been blown out of proportion by the ignorance of Western media who cannot understand the way that different cultures interact. The picture was in no way racist and this topic should be put to rest.. along with all those other controversies that are arising at the Olympic games (i.e. the pretty Girl lipsyncing).

The western media gets offended at everything that does not meet the status quo of their culture, and is ignorant enough to point fingers and try to make the world behave in the same way that they do.

Excellent first post.

[Speedlot]

People shouldn't be told how to feel.

I saw it. I got offended. I reacted. GET IT? It's that simple. The general people are simplistic like that, and therefore "countries" should adhere to the sensitivity of the IGNORANT people. The slit-eye is rather implicit in terms of offensive nature to an Asian. You can't disregard how PEOPLE feel about the subject.

[BubbaTee]

If there was nothing wrong with it, then why would Pau and other players have been uncomfortable with it? Why would he have not wanted to do the pose if he saw it as a perfectly innocuous gesture?

BTW - the American media has every right to react. There are Asians in the US, too. They don't all live in China.

[RapZilla]

I'm not sure how to feel about the whole issue. I don't believe there was anything truly racist in the hearts or minds of the people involved but they should have known better. I don't think people should be calling for their heads or anything but I think an apology should have been extended to whoever was offended.

Anyway... Chinese people DO have slanty eyes and that's OK. Its not like it was perpetuating a negative stereotype about the shape of Asian eyes. Therefore it was a pretty innocuous gesture in my mind.

Still.... do they have a publicist? They must have known that many people would be upset.

[Don Draper]

I like how our media ignores the racism in our country only to point out racism in other countries.

US = pot.
Spain = kettle.

[Airness_ACB]

People shouldn't be told how to feel.

I saw it. I got offended. I reacted. GET IT? It's that simple. The general people are simplistic like that, and therefore "countries" should adhere to the sensitivity of the IGNORANT people. The slit-eye is rather implicit in terms of offensive nature to an Asian. You can't disregard how PEOPLE feel about the subject.

That's your missunderstood. No gesture has something implicit in it, gestures are convention that mean strictly what a culture decides that it means to them. But since the slit-eye is rather implicit in the USA in terms of offensive nature to an Asian, then you think that the rest of the world has got to mold to your sensibility even when they act in their own home.

You can't ask anybody to regard at your feelings when you're not the public that message was addressed to, since it was an Spanish advertisement only seen in Spain by an spanish public that also was absolutely respectfull to asian people in our culture and in our language.

To try to modifie a foreign culture and language to addapt it to your schedule of morality is an authoritarian, racist and ignorant act.

And being that said, I just hope that The Guardian gets demanded and punished to injure our honour integrity with their racist and intentionally false accusations, since it hasn't been a missunderstanding problem, but a matter of hate and disrespect.

[Airness_ACB]

If there was nothing wrong with it, then why would Pau and other players have been uncomfortable with it? Why would he have not wanted to do the pose if he saw it as a perfectly innocuous gesture?

BTW - the American media has every right to react. There are Asians in the US, too. They don't all live in China.

Because the gesture is perfectly innocuous but completely silly and stupid. I wouldn't to it either for an advertisement, but not because I find it racist or offensive, but because I find it stupid.

[Nashty]

Wow I've seen it all now. They reserve the right to take legal action for taking a racist photo?

[PHANTOMPHOENIX]

Wow I've seen it all now. They reserve the right to take legal action for taking a racist photo?

You need a history lesson on Spanish-British relations.

It is not a coincidence that a British paper published this.

Second of all...you guys can scream until you are blue in the face but just because you claim it is a racist photo does not make it one.

[Airness_ACB]

Wow I've seen it all now. They reserve the right to take legal action for taking a racist photo?

No. They reserve the right to take legal action for taking an innocuous photograph that has been taken out of context and manipulated intentionally by a sensacionalist Brittish newspaper, who has accused our entire country of being racist (tell me if that's not a racist act...).

It's a common thing in Brittish newspapers to throw the stone and then hide their hand when they are wrong. So it's not a new that a Brittish newspaper got demanded.

[Farm Raid]

I like how our media ignores the racism in our country only to point out racism in other countries.

US = pot.
Spain = kettle.

When has the media ever ignored racism in the US? 1948?

[BubbaTee]

Anyway... Chinese people DO have slanty eyes and that's OK. Its not like it was perpetuating a negative stereotype about the shape of Asian eyes. Therefore it was a pretty innocuous gesture in my mind.

Some do, some don't. Just like some Europeans look androgynous and some don't. Some whites are unathletic, some aren't.

It rarely helps anything or anybody to start playing on stereotypes, which are inherently prejudicial.

[baroidi]

Hey I understand that in Spain it might be an acceptable gesture, as rediculous as it is. But in America it's not, exaggerated slanty eyes, buck teeth and bowl hair cuts are typical racist caricatures of Asians. The Spaniards should understand this and should show sensitivity when a great number of Asians, particularly Asian Americans are offended. Instead, they show no understanding of this aspect and instead go on the offensive and are playing the victim. That statement by FEB is unacceptable

[Airness_ACB]

I like how our media ignores the racism in our country only to point out racism in other countries.

US = pot.
Spain = kettle.

When has the media ever ignored racism in the US? 1948?

I agree with you, your media do not ignore racism. Actually, they do the opposite thing, by exagerating and over reacting to everything they think can be considered as racist, even if it affects a foreign culture they don't know enough to judge.

But often, exageration is based on unconscious racism. As an example, I find so racist when someone tries to not to be racist and distorsionates the meaning of words. In Spain, as I told before, "negro" is equal to "black people", but some ignorant people think that talk about someone who is "negro" may be racist, so they create a different word such as "negrito" or "morenito", but that's because (in an unconscious way) they think that maybe is something wrong about being black, so you shouldn't say that to someone. And those I refer, the ones who exagerate by pretending to not to be racist, are the ones who end up being racist, since parental acting (I can't translate it, I mean "paternalismo" in Spanish, which something like an exagerated overprotection that makes you treat someone as inferior, as if he was an small kid) is a way of racism.

And that's what happens here. The most oversensitive people in here are the ones who, in an unconscious way, seem to think that maybe there's something wrong about being asian, so you should not do anything related to what they appear to consider as a disgrace or at least not a good/"normal" thing.

[PHANTOMPHOENIX]

Hey I understand that in Spain it might be an acceptable gesture, as rediculous as it is. But in America it's not, exaggerated slanty eyes, buck teeth and bowl hair cuts are typical racist caricatures of Asians. The Spaniards should understand this and should show sensitivity when a great number of Asians, particularly Asian Americans are offended. Instead, they show no understanding of this aspect and instead go on the offensive and are playing the victim. That statement by FEB is unacceptable

Last I checked that ad was not intended for America until some paper decided to take it out of context and turn it into an international incident.

Maybe you should get an understanding of British-Spanish media relations because you are just getting used by the British Media.

[baroidi]

Hey I understand that in Spain it might be an acceptable gesture, as rediculous as it is. But in America it's not, exaggerated slanty eyes, buck teeth and bowl hair cuts are typical racist caricatures of Asians. The Spaniards should understand this and should show sensitivity when a great number of Asians, particularly Asian Americans are offended. Instead, they show no understanding of this aspect and instead go on the offensive and are playing the victim. That statement by FEB is unacceptable

Last I checked that ad was not intended for America until some paper decided to take it out of context and turn it into an international incident.

Maybe you should get an understanding of British-Spanish media relations because you are just getting used by the British Media.

That's not an excuse, the olympics are a global event, especially in this internet age. That's why it's unacceptable for the FEB to not show an ounce of senstivity towards Asians that have all right to be offended.

[Airness_ACB]

Hey I understand that in Spain it might be an acceptable gesture, as rediculous as it is. But in America it's not, exaggerated slanty eyes, buck teeth and bowl hair cuts are typical racist caricatures of Asians. The Spaniards should understand this and should show sensitivity when a great number of Asians, particularly Asian Americans are offended. Instead, they show no understanding of this aspect and instead go on the offensive and are playing the victim. That statement by FEB is unacceptable

Your point about we having the obligation to act according to your own moral standards in our own home (it happened in our own home since the ad was only shown in Spain and for a Spanish public) seems to be pretty authoritarian, racist and lacks a lot of knowledge about how a multi-cultural world works.

You pretend to impose your model to the rest of the world, and that's really offensive. But instead you get offended if the rest of the world doesn't act according to your model, and while you ask to be respected you disrespect a foreign culture.

[PHANTOMPHOENIX]

Hey I understand that in Spain it might be an acceptable gesture, as rediculous as it is. But in America it's not, exaggerated slanty eyes, buck teeth and bowl hair cuts are typical racist caricatures of Asians. The Spaniards should understand this and should show sensitivity when a great number of Asians, particularly Asian Americans are offended. Instead, they show no understanding of this aspect and instead go on the offensive and are playing the victim. That statement by FEB is unacceptable

Last I checked that ad was not intended for America until some paper decided to take it out of context and turn it into an international incident.

Maybe you should get an understanding of British-Spanish media relations because you are just getting used by the British Media.

That's not an excuse, the olympics are a global event, especially in this internet age. That's why it's unacceptable for the FEB to not show an ounce of senstivity towards Asians that have all right to be offended.

The British Media has grabbed at every straw possible to depict Spain as racist. If that is not racist I don't know what is.

China has not asked for an apology nor wants one.

Do you want Spain to apologize to every corner of the world that has some Asian? How many apologies is that?

I find it funny that you say Asian Americans. As usual, the Americans want to make it about themselves. I guess the other ones don't count if they aren't in America.