Bernardo Silva tweet controversy

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

What did he say?

 

[Rolee]

It was beyond stupid to publish that on his social media, but to his defense Conguitos are the Spanish version of M&Ms, you'll find these in every store in Spain and Portugal.

Is the imagery still used?

 

[asahartford1]

" kick it out" , particularly Townsend have dropped another clanger. He did so when complaining about the sacking of Chris Ramsey, then again when he saw the race card when Hughton was given his marching orders. He later apologised unreservedly for his comments. All of us want to see the end of racism, in society as a whole,and in football. "Kick it out"by concentrating and highlighting acts that have nothing to do with the problem are using their position erroneously They are sometimes trying to publicise their own image rather than looking at the real issues,

If they had wanted they could have contacted City and Silva, to discuss the issue, find out the facts before demanding action. Instead they acted quickly without dialogue, a self promoting action, that does nothing in the fight against Racism.

I wish no City player used Social Media. Then perhaps "kick it out" would concentrate on the issues at hand.

 

[The Stockport Iniesta]

I note the new Chair at Kick It Out is a rag. Garth Crooks resigned over his appt, not sure what that’s all about.

He campaigned for ex played and pfa stalwart Brendon Batson to get the gig, resigned when he wasn't appointed.

 

[Sir peace frog]

Not a surprise. That`s what happens when people try to hide from the truth!

what truth,it looked like mendy , it was a cartoon of a little black boy, wasnt racist in the slightest,it was with the current im offended climate a bit silly, but what im finding is the posters on here with very few posts seem to be the most offended, there's been a few,

 

[Keith Moon]

Is the imagery still used?

Yes, but they dropped the red lips, there's also a white Conguitos figure, for kids in Spain and Portugal these are a part of their childhood and nothing strange.They are a little bit behind over there.

 

[stevieboy]

The best re-education for Bernardo will be for Stirling to have a word and explain why the image is deemed offensive here, yet widely used in Portugal and Spain, in every sweet shop.

 

[northendenton]

Ribinsons jam was an English brand with a logo that has been banned for many years. It wouldn`t be posted by anyone now so just because it`s a Spanish logo doesn`t make it defensible. Like I said previously. Bernado isn`t some idiot,he is an intelligent man.

Robertson's jam originated in Paisley in Scotland ,sorry to be pedantic but your main point is very true though .the image that was used on the jar was discontinued in the early 2000s or so, Bernardo has let himself down,hopefully he, and other high profile celebrities can bring their fame to bear and help eradicate this stuff.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

I live in the States (obviously!) and am also on a pilot forum. I had attempted to write the word “bigger” and had inadvertently used the letter next to the”b” instead (which was an “n” not a “v” for the smart arses!), hit “submit” and walked away!

When I came back to the computer later in the day, it had blown up....even though the n word was completely out of context and anyone with a scintilla of sense would have realized the mistake and read the word as “bigger.”

Was threatened with a ban, told (in no uncertain terms) it could not be tolerated, and on and on and on! The mere presence of a SPELLING MISTAKE that was a forbidden word (because I’m white, of course!) was almost unrecoverable!!!

In Bernardo’s case, it appears clear that he is going to have to go to some “education” class to be “reprogrammed” so he isn’t a racist!!! Maybe Mendy and Mbappe should go with him?!

Whether it is smart or not, we are reaching a faux outrage tipping point, because what is ACTUALLY happening is that people are simply using instances like this to SHAPE YOUR LANGUAGE AND YOUR THOUGHTS....and it is a slippery slope!!

I’m all for moving forward and leaving racist tropes behind, but it should be SOCIETAL NORMS that determine such things, not organized lynch mobs. It should be people simply saying “I don’t agree with that” and UNliking a person, as opposed to all the “some organization we made up should punish him!”

Can no-one make a mistake anymore? Is there no “Hey mate, you know what....” anymore? Has tribalism become SO poisoned that we simply slay people for a misstep, or a simple cultural misdeed, where no one gets physically hurt, and even the “victim” claims no injury???

Legislating taste harms society. Society has to use its collective strength to simply turn its back on such things, so that people understand it is no longer a norm, no longer accepted, no longer funny...but NOT NO LONGER ALLOWED! “Allowed” signifies a curtailing of the freedom to look like an idiot, a buffoon, a culturally inappropriate fool, and is determined by overzealous, politically correct zealots who seek to gain from their zealotry, as opposed to allowing society to simply turn its back on such behavior and allow society to move on.

Bernardo needs to learn that highlighting a person for their racial characteristics, especially cartoonishly exaggerated ones, isn’t a trope that is deemed socially acceptable anymore by wide swaths of society, especially in the hyper-PC Britain of 2019, where he works. He is young, and I’ve no idea how intelligent he is or how small his bubble is, but he is learning the lesson publicly. That sucks for him, but let’s not act like he is walking around stabbing people, or calling everyone of color a N*****!

I’d imagine someone at the club has already had a word. I also imagine the FA and their “Kick It Out” robots will have a word AND MORE, and he will have to go to “Re-education Camp” where he can be taught to be a Borg (Star Trek reference, not a Scandinavian reference, as I wouldn’t want to offend any Scandinavians!) and have some of the life sucked out of him.

Thankfully, he is SUCH a nice, decent, funny bloke, most reasonable people will be able to put this down to a lack of awareness, as opposed to malice, and we can move on. However, THE NEXT TIME.......? He is now “on the list” and his misstep has been saved to hard drives across the world for future use.

This is who we are now. You’ve been warned.

Have you read this?

His Twitter account is also worth a follow because he quite often highlights these Twitter lynch mobs, most recently the case of a young woman who was piled on for taking a vaguely sexy photo at Auschwitz.



To be fair though, the sum total of Bernardo's consequences so far have been people on Twitter telling him he's been a twat. Some people have been hounded out of jobs. It's also clear from his subsequent post that he doesn't believe he's made a mistake.

 

[argyle]

You will never get away with stuff like this nowadays. Bernardo was stupid posting that on a social media platform and will have to take his medicine. Right pain in the arse for us though if he gets a ban.

He won't get a ban.

He'll get a public warning from the F.A. about his responsibilities and that will be that.

 

[AliBobbyJ]

His follow up tweet isn't exactly great. "Can't even joke with friends nowadays." What he needs to realise is that posting something on Twitter isn't "joking with friends" it's joking with 600,000 followers and many millions of others who might see it second hand.

Apparently his original tweet and Mendy's cheerful reply were deleted within minutes, so i wonder who at the club oversaw this and alerted Bernie to the storm that was about to break? Anyway, this too shall pass, though it's already unlikely he'd get FA player of the year no matter how brilliantly he plays football for the rest of the season.

 

[asahartford1]

Fixed it for ya!

Don’t you realize that pointing out someone else’s culture as wrong is, itself, culturally insensitive? Who are you to say YOUR culture is right and THEIR culture is wrong? Who writes the rules on which culture is above another? Who gets to rank them?

"kick it out"

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Have you read this?

His Twitter account is also worth a follow because he quite often highlights these Twitter lynch mobs, most recently the case of a young woman who was piled on for taking a vaguely sexy photo at Auschwitz.

To be fair though, the sum total of Bernardo's consequences so far have been people on Twitter telling him he's been a twat. Some people have been hounded out of jobs. It's also clear from his subsequent post that he doesn't believe he's made a mistake.

Thanks, I’ll have a look.

Bernardo’s response is reasonable given he is clearly indicating he didn’t believe it could be perceived as racist....hence, someone needs to have a quick word to help him understand why, so we can all move on with our lives and I can get back to being outraged by a President who is trampling all over the American Constitution and colluding with foreign governments to harm his political opponents!!!

 

[nellyonthewing]

Welcome to 'woke world' Bernardo. The irony is Mendy is probably not offended..

 

[ChicagoBlue]

"kick it out"

Exactly!

Agenda-filled cliques who get funded to be outraged!!

P.S. You DO realize I was simply making a point that it is ridiculously easy to fall into the trap that is political correctness, simply by misusing (or sloppily using) a word here or there, right?!

 

[I'm With Stupid]

Thanks, I’ll have a look.

Bernardo’s response is reasonable given he is clearly indicating he didn’t believe it could be perceived as racist....hence, someone needs to have a quick word to help him understand why, so we can all move on with our lives and I can get back to being outraged by a President who is trampling all over the American Constitution and colluding with foreign governments to harm his political opponents!!!

You can start with his Ted Talk.

 

[Vialli98]

At the risk of upsetting some in here, I don't see how anyone can argue it wasn't, at best, offensive and racially insensitive. Poor by Bernardo Silva, in all honesty.

 

[sir baconface]

If you can't express your opinion without resorting to infantile name calling and talking in extremes, you'll look like an ignorant dickhead.

Classic. Even if not intended.

 

[Keith Moon]

Fixed it for ya!

Don’t you realize that pointing out someone else’s culture as wrong is, itself, culturally insensitive? Who are you to say YOUR culture is right and THEIR culture is wrong? Who writes the rules on which culture is above another? Who gets to rank them?

Sure, compared to the rest of Western Europe they are a bit culturally different when it comes to this kind of racism, as I wrote, it's not a big deal over there. I personally think that's fucked up, but thats my opinion.

 

[roy.or.r]

To me, Bernardo is really stupid to post that on social media. And tbh, we don't know if Mendy do actually like it or not. I am speaking from experience. I am an Indian living in the US. My ex-colleague and friend (who is a white) used to call me mocha and some other shit (I was once helping him move his furniture and he commented one table got black because I touched it). Initially, I got bothered sometimes but now I have stopped caring and just laugh it off. We are still very good friends but I think he is a bit insensitive in these matters.