A few stories floating around today which seem to be worth commenting on.
Firstly, Jens is facing a potential police investigation, following claims that he kicked a water bottle into the crowd at the end of the first half at Old Trafford. Now, I'm not fully defending Jens's actions, as I do think its wrong for players to take out their frustrations against crowd members. But, Arseblogger received an email which seems to put the incident in context. Apparently, the abuse Jens received from those darling Mancs ranged from calling him a Nazi - par de course for any German in the UK - to accusing him of perpetrating the holocaust and raping the victims. Charming.
If there's one thing that really annoys me about the UK, its the continuing practice of racially abusing Germans due to the events of sixty years ago. Really, get over it. Of course, we should remember the past, but it does not give us the right to act like this in the present. Its like English football fans going to the world cup and singing 'hilarious' songs about German bombers. If you say things like this to Germans you are at best a complete idiot, who brings shame on yourself and England; at worst you're a bona fide racist - the core component of being a Nazi. Moreover, I'd like to see you say it to Jens if it was just the two of you on your own.
On a lighter note, we've been linked with Welsh youngster Gareth Bale. Haven't heard much about him, except that he's knocked in a few storming free-kicks this year. Always good to have some Welsh lads about as well. He's a former room-mate of Theo.
There was a bit of a discussion on here yesterday about Thierry, and his role in the team. A good point was made that the three games Thierry has started in have been the three where the proverbial bus was parked. I would say that he's still a shoe-in to start for Saturday, and, given his performance on Sunday, Adey will surely start beside him. I think Adey and Tel is now our starting strike force, unless Adey suffers a cataclysmic loss of form, or we decide to play 451. RvP needs to start scoring some wonder goals, and also toughen up if he's going to get back in the side; especially with the Beast now breathing down his neck.
Finally, a word on the anti-Ashley chanting. Arsene has come out and said, 'arret'! Although, whether this is just because he's fundamentally opposed to it, or just because he doesn't like the pure filthiness of some of the chants, isn't clear. What I would say, is that Ash is no longer part of Arsenal. Unless you really think that it helps spur the team on by chanting about a former player, is it really worth it? We can't really claim the moral high ground if we chant obscenities about him every week. When he actually comes back in May, fair enough though.
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12 comments:
Bang on on two points, first the racism point. It takes many forms, it doesn't have to be monkey chanting. Arsenal fans must stop using the 'y' word. Hearing Villa fans chant 'stand up if you hate the French' is equally as obscene, but nobody does anything about it because it's considered acceptable. Secondly on Cole, I won't lie, I had a little snigger about the 'one man went to bed' chants, but didn't join in myself. You're absoulutely right, let's not feed his ego by chanting about him- particularly as we don't have a chant for Gallas yet. He's gone and best forgotten about, by all means give him hell when we play the chavs, but until then let's not bother. Besides, the chants against him are offensive to gay people and rectal passages everywhere.
Couldn't agree more. I thought it was pathetic when opposition fans sang homophobic songs about Cashley when he was a gooner, and I don't feel any different about our fans doing it now he's not.
If you have to sing about Cashley, what's wrong with 'Oh Cashley Cole, he's a f*cking arsehole...' et.
I prefer to focus on the fantastic, committed, hungry for success gunners we have in our squad right now!
And btw, Henry is a legend, and will soon be back firing in the goals and assists.
Agree on the racism bit. It's more rampant in Spain and Italy but is ti creeping into the english game?
problem is most people dont consider this a form of racism - sad but true
Why even sing that Ashley Cole is an arsehole? that's just offensive to sphincters. Think about it, what has your arse hole ever done to you but get rid of waste? Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn.
possessing a German passport, I would like to comment on your identification of racism in the chants of the manu crowd towards Lehmann.
calling a German a nazi is like calling a spurs fan sc*m. in my view, it has almost nothing to do with plain facts and could even be done by a German manu fan that happened to sit behind Lehmann. it is obvious that Lehmann has no relation whatever to a certain political movement that has anyway been (and still is, sadly) of international nature. Moreover, it is very difficult to identify a common feature in all human beings that possess German passports or call themselves 'German'.
If Lehmann was provoked by these kinds of chants, he would probably have also been provoked by others naming him a wa*ker or pae*ophile or whatever.
There is a fundamental difference in abusing black players, where having a different skin color refers the provocation to evident facts, that is, a slightly different genetical endowment.
In my view, identifying 'racism' in both cases means trivialising it. its the second form we need to concentrate on. the rest is a form of kidding ("don't mention the war" ;-D)
But xenophobia is rife in football as well, but it is considered acceptable. I would say seeking to insult someone based on national characteristics- stereotypical or otherwise- is racism. It's explicating your dislike of another culture. Even taunts as seemingly harmless as 'you French twat' reveal the same thing. Using somebody's nationality in the context of an insult is racism.
The four main areas of representation are age, race, gender, social class. Nationality is filed under the word 'race.' Xenophobia and racism are the same things.
little dutch,
1 - what is language without swearing? where is the thin line between insulting, provocating, and more funny language games between competing individuals or groups? don't try to hinder ethnic cleansing by linguistic cleansing.
2 - imo you trivialize racism, which, in its ideologic form is based on a (pseudo-) scientific theory about supposed racial characteristics that supposedly can be 'demonstrated'. it is therefore often a matter of elites and thus politically very dangerous. I agree that xenophobia can be very close to racism if it has the racist background I alluded to.
but nationalism in its tradition is quite the opposite to that. it supposes that every 'nation' has its special character that is different but has basically the same value and should therefore be preserved (see the scottish, welsh movements in britain). although I do not profess even this kind of nationalism, identifying 'nation' with 'race' would ideologize many contexts in which we talk of nations (f.e., when we refer to them as states). why should we suppose that everytime somebody talks about a (foreign or familiar) nation he talks about race?
But what I am talking about is in the context of an insult. If somebody uses a national characteristic or simply somebody's nationality as an attempt to demean them then it is racism. If I were talk about German people generally, in a non insult context, I am still ostensibly referring to a race of people. The second you refer explicitly to a religion/skin pigmentation/ nationality, you refer to race.If one is to take the example of nazism, the aryan race is defined as exclusively German, as a condition of 'pure' race. The point is racism takes many forms, to use a lazy, ill informed stereotype of somebody's nationality does not have the same historical currency as the 'n' word or the 'y' word, but it is racism nonetheless, no matter the degree.
But it implies that there is something wrong with being gay. Anyway, knackersacks to all that I can't be bothered to go with that argument again. Let's just say he's not worth our energy and leave it that. I don't hate Cole, I feel apathy towards him. I'm sad about the situation because he's going to wreck his career with his ego, he's not worth worrying about and I'd say the extracts from his autobigraphy make him look more of a fool than any chant.
If the Police did nothing about Ben Thatcher, they're surely not going to do anything about Lehmann . . .so he hit a kid in the head with a waterbottle . . . call it a free lesson in life . . .
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