an olympic sized blunder

so the guardian broke the news that the spanish basketball teams took group pictures with each player appearing to make slit-eye gestures and had this picture run daily in a newspaper ad sanctioned by spain's basketball association. apparently, laker pau gasol, a member of this olympic squad, the coach and everybody else do not find anything offensive with the picture.

to be fair, pau gasol purportedly said, "If anyone feels offended by it, we totally apologise for it." but, he doesn't really apologise for doing it. he just apologised if anyone found it offensive. i guess he doesn't get it either.

jose calderon blogged the following about the event:

I would like to share a story with you about something that happened with the Spanish National Team that someone interpreted incorrectly. It happened in the photo session where the Spanish National Team was introduced; one of our sponsors asked us to pose with a “wink” to our participation in Beijing, we made an oriental expression with our eyes. We thought it was something appropriate and that it would always be interpreted as somewhat loving. Never the less some of the European media did not see it this way.

From here I would like to declare that we have a huge respect for the East and their people, some of my best friends in Toronto are from China and one of our Spanish National Team sponsors is the Chinese brand Li Ning. Anyone who would like to interpret this differently is absolutely confused.

ummmm... calderon definitely doesn't get it. "orientals?" let me be clear, asians are not furniture. and what is the deal with "i have asian friends"? that doesn't mean anything!!! strom thurmond fathered a child with an african american woman yet he was an advocate for segregation of the races. so calderon having asian friends does not translate to having "huge respect" for asian peoples.

so, let me say why i find their conduct offensive:

first, it makes fun of an immutable physical feature.

second, it emphasizes differences in people that has been the basis for treating people unfavorably in education, employment, public accommodations, etc.

third, it is neither funny nor endearing. so why do it?

while the spanish might not find it offensive, other people might (and do). what were they thinking?

the ad showcases a team competing in an international event. their players play internationally -- particularly pau gasol for the lakers (california having a large asian american population) and jose calderon for the raptors (toronto also having a large asian american population). thus, while the ad was intended to appear only locally, the team has an international profile and each has a responsibility to promote tolerance of all cultures -- whether they are at home or abroad.

what is even more disturbing is that it appears that the international olympic committee, the nba, or the lakers/raptors will do nothing about this atrocity.