How would we react?

[Forevablue]

I fail to see how calling Marcelo a monkey (despite the fact he actually looks like a monkey due to his facial features not his skin colour) is worse than singing "Joleon Lescott the elephant man"

Totally agree with you there! I can't believe that should one of our players be embroiled in such a row then we would want them out immediately no matter what.

Hopefully will never happen so we don't have to worry :)

 

[Balti]

We wouldn't tolerate a racist. I expect we'd want proof though.

As for Barton and Thatcher etc I'm pretty sure their behaviour was roundly condemned by most at the time.

 

[Blue Blood CTID]

We wouldn't tolerate a racist. I expect we'd want proof though.

As for Barton and Thatcher etc I'm pretty sure their behaviour was roundly condemned by most at the time.

But still kept at the club though and supported by many. In fact Barton's name was still sung by thousands as we supported him. (consecutive violent assaults vs calling somebody because of their skin colour). It's so so easy to be the perfect human being and criticise others when it's not happening to us. I think it would be much much harder to say to David Silva "right fuck off out of our club" because he said something to that UTTER **** evra in Spanish that doesn't have the same meaning in English. Would you honestly say "pack your bags David, you have to go?"

 

[cheddar404]

racialism, smacialism, what is the difference in calling some-one a black bastard, and calling some-one a fat bastard

As a rule, fat bastards haven't been discriminated against in society or denied opportunities in life down the years simply because of what they are. Plus, if you're a fat bastard, lose some weight.

But nowadays, everyone can clearly see than Black people are clearly not denied opportunities - at the very least in football, and in pretty much any other aspect of life. That is racism discrimination against someone due to the colour of their skin (i.e. not letting them into a club etc)

I fail to see how calling Marcelo a monkey (despite the fact he actually looks like a monkey due to his facial features not his skin colour) is worse than singing "Joleon Lescott the elephant man"

It still happens although admittedly less and less these days. It's something that still carries a lot off offence and meaning due to things that happened in the past. People have been killed because of their skin colour. Before you say that fat people have been killed because they are fat (as I am sure it will have happened,) it's not on the same scale. There's always a line to be drawn and it's a difficult one as you might hate scousers or cockneys or whatever.
For me, what Suarez and Terry (allegedly) have said are unnacceptable in our society. Chelsea have handled it in a much more dignified way than Liverpool.

 

[bluenova]

For me the biggest problem in all this was the reaction of Liverpool FC.

There was no real argument about the facts so why suggest that Evra was a liar (even in official statements)? As far as I'm aware he was never previously found to be a liar, just that it couldn't be proved one way or the other, and as he had been partly in the wrong that was the end of it.

This time, Evra suggested that Suarez continually brought up the fact that he was black while they were arguing. The cultural differences argument is so weak because you can't argue a word is 'friendly' when you're in the middle of an argument/trying to wind someone up.

If Liverpool wanted to protect Suarez they should have got it over with quickly. An admission that the players were arguing, and that Suarez used a racist term offensively, but use the 'cultural differences' argument in mitigation, rather than as a way to pretend he did nothing wrong. Suarez apologises, and says he understands know that he shouldn't have used the term. He'd have probably got a much shorter ban, and a warning would go out to all other players. Liverpool take it on the chin, and their fans could have argued over the nuances amongst themselves.

Instead, they tried to claim the moral high ground. All the foolish grandstanding gave the fans a persecution complex, and the message that maybe racism wasn't such a bad thing after all. Fans who probably would have stood up against racism, were now feeling so aggrieved that they actively supported Suarez - and those who were racist felt that the club probably shared their views.