[Sean]

Originally Posted by IsiliRunite

I don't think this classifies as racism to a lot of people who live in countries that lack ethnic diversity, just to mention that point. Most of us interact with people on a daily basis of a different ethnicity and value their character over their outside appearance, so we are most offended when there seems to be a judgement made on meaningless-to-us physical appearance. Chinese people are foreign, different, and obscure to the Spanish; nobody brought up the racist overtones and being offensive to Chinese because the half-way around the world Chinese are not quite 'real' people to these athletes. I believe the picture was a result of certain Spanish people subconsciously finding security and comfort in ignorance and 'purity' from a very early age, consequently reflecting that in their comedy (especially during a time of nervousness and anticipation). The merits of the picture weren't questioned because of that same ignorance; same cause, two observed actions.

I agree that the underlying cause here is most likely ignorance, and that the photos don't necessarily mean that the people in them are racists. But I also think that the photos themselves can be accurately labeled as racist in that they portray an action that's sole purpose is meant to disparage a group of people based only on their physical appearance. A good analogy would be like a 3 year old unexpectedly using the "n" word - they're just parroting the word without any understanding of the connotations it raises, so the kid's not racist, but the word still is.

But where the problem really lies for me is that it's very hard to understand how the Spanish (and Argentinians) can be so glaringly ignorant in our ever-shrinking world. Or think of it this way - my analogy, by necessity, needed to use a 3 year old in order to convey the level of ignorance that's on display here, despite the fact that we're talking about young adults. I mean for example, when I read the news online as many younger people do, I'm reading articles from around the world, with varying perspectives and concepts that just a couple decades ago, would've been beyond my reach and/or understanding. And the people on these teams are of course part of the younger generation, and have even been competing internationally for a while. Don't they have internet access, or any communications with people outside of their own culture that might clue them in to the fact that painting themselves up in black-face, or making monkey sounds at black players, or stretching their eyes like this is hurtful to the people on the receiving end? Are Spain and Argentina really in that much of an isolated bubble?

So if it's purely ignorance that's behind this, then it's absolutely stunning, almost willful ignorance of the highest order.

Originally Posted by IsiliRunite

This incident is related to, but clearly distinct, from the football race-based heckling which is moreso the average bloke rationalizing his dislike of an opponent with racism because he can't think of anything more creative and consequently expressing his racist views because his own racism tells him that its acceptable. Those hooligans probably don't hate black people but they certainly don't mind adding their own negative judgements, based on club loyalty and whatnot, to an already-lurking racial prejudice.

I have no confidence that I understand the full reasons behind these photos, so I don't know how to compare past instances of racist behavior from Latin countries to what's happening right now.

Originally Posted by IsiliRunite

You all should remember that nobody ever thinks quite like you do, when approaching situations like these. Become another person for a moment...

I am. I'm thinking of Asian people, like my wife who's of Korean descent, who have had to be on the receiving end of stretched-eye gestures and taunts of "ching chong ching" all her life, up to and including now. As I said earlier, the photos may be born of ignorance, but does that in any way justify or excuse them? I'm not so sure it does in today's world.