Bernardo Silva tweet controversy

[George Hannah]

Sky Suppository warming themselves up for another attack on Bernardo, city hater Lewis namechecks all the other city hating cockroaches who won't let this huge story go.....

 

[Coatigan]

Listened to hours of discussion and read hundreds of posts and still can't get my head round how saying a person looks like a cartoon character with no mention of race or colour is racist

it also shows how far we’ve come in fighting racism that this tweet, which can portray racial stereotyping, albeit without any intentional malice, is now a huge thing in this country.

Doesn’t the fact that white footballers are fair game to be compared to white cartoon characters whilst black ones still aren’t surely show that black people are being treated in a different plane?

I want us to get to the point in society where we are like the Simpsons. Nothing is off limits and people are all treated the same, but fun can be poked at any subject, without people finding offence where there was none meant.

To me, it isnt a black/white thing, it is the nature of the stereotype and what it implies, or might imply, to some people.

I don't see it as racist, because in my well intended naivity, i'd like to believe the world had moved on from outdated stereotypes. but i do see how someone might, because it IS an outdated stereotype that might still carry negative connotations to them, intended or not.

Lets take colour out of it. Say i posted a joke on here comparing our Edin to a warmonger. I love the guy, our former ledgend, i mean nothing bad by it, it is just my take on humour. Lets say for arguements' sake he has seen it and isnt offended.
Would it be beyond the realm of possibility that it might offend BosnianBlue (sorry to bring you into this, you seem thick skinned enough for the point im trying to make), who posts on here? it might not, but it could. it could offend others too. Would it be unthinkable that some here might pull me up on it for posting a tasteless and insensitive stereotype? it happens on far more trivial things, that is how crowd dynamics work in social media, and twitter is a bigger multiple of that.

Heck some here think that (purely visually, excluding any social meaning attached to race culture or whatever) mendy Does look like the drawing, and some can't see any resemblance whatsoever. Surely then, disagreeing on any possible intepretation of any meaning behind it is inevitable.

As i said, all i believe that needs to happen for it to lose momentum is an acknowledgement from bernardo or the club, that it shouldnt have been put out in public where anyone can take it the way they are inclined.

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

I'm gonna try and respond where you don't feel 'attacked'...

I would like you to show me a tweet where a famous Black person compared a famous White person to somebody of past history where that White person was viewed with disdain or mockery and/ or racial connotations.

Thanks.

"White men can't jump"
It's a myth tbh

 

[Bigga]

If Mendy had sent a tweet of a white chocolate to Bernardo would there have been as much of a furore ? As for white people blacking up , ive witnessed a black person do the opposite at a fancy dress and no one batted an eyelid , ive also been to Jamaica and been called a "Honky" but took it in jest .Maybe i am thick skinned especially if it was a friend commenting or tweeting this stuff , i despise racism in every form , i used to work with some Asian /Muslim lads and the abuse they receive is on another level, but the Bernardo tweet needs to be put into perspective.
If you do stop posting on here your admitting defeat, which would be a shame.

JGB, I understand your point, but some of your examples are in private setting, not expressed to millions.

I would say that the racial slur you received has NOT been forgotten as it jarred you enough to remember it vividly and rightly so, as that was not right.

All I've been saying is that this would have been avoidable by bantering privately otherwise you drag other opinions into the mix.

It's like no one wants to hear it.

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

So, I wrote that thinking WTF has happened on this board that Blues accept shit like that in a public tweet.

It just made me think how many of you would, by extension, go to a game wearing minstrel faces, prosthetic fat lips or carrying spears in support of a 'good laugh' towards Mendy??

This would be the logical leap if you support that kind of public 'banter'.

Blanket accusations of racism is a bad as being racist. I AM NOT RACIST

 

[Marvin]

As MUCH as one might want to, one cannot continue to 'ignore' subconscious views on race.

Once that happens you legitimise the unspoken position.

But not every single action we take in life is designed to futher a political ideal. Bernardo was making a jokey remark, and all his critics know it, and yet they still pursue it, because there's a cheap headline to be had. It is completely cyncical.

So much of anti-racism is tokenism. The media organisations who are represented in the press conferences will all have equal opportunities policies and yet at the same time will be writing about the threat of immigration every single day of the week. That is what you should be commenting on, not the communication between two friends. It's not Bernardo's fault if other people see the tweet and are so stupid that they cannot figure out its context.

 

[Bigga]

I believe anyone of any colour can have whatever opinion they want on this matter.

But if I found a particular opinion to be disturbing, I'd find it disturbing regardless of the colour of the person who said it.

I think your posts have been quite insightful on this issue; it's just that one line that I found rather curious.

I don't disagree that anyone can have an opinion, that's never been my position.

But, people are proposing another race's opinion when the said race haven't done so to me.

This hypothetical position is beyond thick as we're discussing factual events.

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

JGB, I understand your point, but some of your examples are in private setting, not expressed to millions.

I would say that the racial slur you received has NOT been forgotten as it jarred you enough to remember it vividly and rightly so, as that was not right.

All I've been saying is that this would have been avoidable by bantering privately otherwise you drag other opinions into the mix.

It's like no one wants to hear it.

Not sure Bigga , the black person who whited up as Elton John of all people was at Chorley Town Hall and there were over a hundred people present at a public event , and i can assure you the "Honky" incident is only remembered for its hilarity there are no mental scars :)

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

I'm gonna try and respond where you don't feel 'attacked'...

I would like you to show me a tweet where a famous Black person compared a famous White person to somebody of past history where that White person was viewed with disdain or mockery and/ or racial connotations.

Thanks.

What will it take for black people to rise above being compared to someone of past history where that person was viewed with disdain or mockery?
Sure, it’s been awful for a long period of time, but each year, we are getting better at calling out and dealing with racism. When will the tipping point be where Bernardo can liken Mendy to a cartoon character without him being accused of casual racism, rather than looking at it as him thinking that they are lookalikes?

I’m guessing that both Trump and Johnson will be famous white people who become figures of disdain and mockery and other famous people will he likened to them, no doubt. I’m also guessing that there will never be this level of discussion about it.

 

[Newman Noggs]

If your subconscious viewpoint comes through in your messaging 'joking' or otherwise, you're not considering the recipient of that message or, at least, you reveal more about yourself than you intended. This is especially true if you don't know the person you are tweeting (i.e., publicly).

Just consider that for a moment and you'll understand why I said what I said.

I'd rather someone reveal more about themselves than they intended than stop them from expressing their view and, much worse, try to tyrranise them into silence.