Offended by Proxy, is it an acceptable reaction?

[Matty]

Articel on the BBC Website:-

Kevin Kilbane complains over West Ham chant
Kevin Kilbane has made a complaint to the Football Association over an alleged chant by West Ham fans mocking disabled people.

The ex-Republic of Ireland winger has received abusive messages on social media since his complaint was revealed.

Hammers fans sang the chant during the 2-2 draw at Tottenham on Sunday.

Kilbane was not at the game but was told of the language by a close friend and says he spoke to the FA, which is investigating the complaint.

The word used in the chant is a derogatory one against people with Down's Syndrome.

BBC football pundit Kilbane's daughter, Elsie, has the condition, and the former Preston, West Brom, Sunderland, Everton, Wigan, Hull City and Coventry City player is a patron of the Down's Syndrome Association charity.

In another incident involving Sunday's game, video footage has emerged of a group of men, thought to be West Ham fans, chanting anti-Semitic abuse on a train in north London.

Anti-discrimination group Kick It Out has contacted police over the footage on the way to the game at White Hart Lane.

This is in no way an attempt to defend the chanting by the West Ham fans, which clearly is abhorrent. However, in the main, for the point I'm making, the actual specifics of what was said, and by whom, is irrelevant. The bit that concerns me is highlighted in bold. Kevin Kilbane wasn't at the West Ham game. Kevin Kilbane didn't hear anything whatsoever himself. Kevin Kilbane was told by someone else about something they'd heard, was offended by this, and put in a complaint. That's my issue here. People in modern society seem to be falling over themselves to be offended.

 

[aguero93:20]

Depends on the context really. In this case I don't think it's an acceptable reaction. There were 30 odd thousand other people who could have complained without relying on hearsay, including Kilbane's mate.

 

[BigOscar]

I think he's well within his rights as a football going man with a mentally disabled daughter to be offended and complain. He says he doesn't want to be at a game with his daughters and hear that, so he either has to just wait and hope it doesn't happen to him, or make a stand before it does. For me, he's well within his rights, especially as a patron of a down syndrome charity, if anything, it's his responsibility to do so. If we only care about things that happen directly to us, we'd all be fucked.

 

[aguero93:20]

I think he's well within his rights as a football going man with a mentally disabled daughter to be offended and complain. He says he doesn't want to be at a game with his daughters and hear that, so he either has to just wait and hope it doesn't happen to him, or make a stand before it does. For me, he's well within his rights, especially as a patron of a down syndrome charity, if anything, it's his responsibility to do so. If we only care about things that happen directly to us, we'd all be fucked.

I'd prefer that somebody complaining about an offence had been a direct witness, rather than hearing about it from somebody else, that's a bit too 'man in the pub' for me.

 

[BigOscar]

I think he's well within his rights as a football going man with a mentally disabled daughter to be offended and complain. He says he doesn't want to be at a game with his daughters and hear that, so he either has to just wait and hope it doesn't happen to him, or make a stand before it does. For me, he's well within his rights, especially as a patron of a down syndrome charity, if anything, it's his responsibility to do so. If we only care about things that happen directly to us, we'd all be fucked.

I'd prefer that somebody complaining about an offence had been a direct witness, rather than hearing about it from somebody else, that's a bit too 'man in the pub' for me.

I don't see the problem, he's not putting himself forward as a witness, he's just making the police aware so they can investigate it.

 

[KnaresboroughBlue]

Just out of interest, as unpleasant as it may be, is there any law against chants that may offend those with mental disabilities?

 

[Matty]

I think he's well within his rights as a football going man with a mentally disabled daughter to be offended and complain. He says he doesn't want to be at a game with his daughters and hear that, so he either has to just wait and hope it doesn't happen to him, or make a stand before it does. For me, he's well within his rights, especially as a patron of a down syndrome charity, if anything, it's his responsibility to do so. If we only care about things that happen directly to us, we'd all be fucked.

I'd prefer that somebody complaining about an offence had been a direct witness, rather than hearing about it from somebody else, that's a bit too 'man in the pub' for me.

I don't see the problem, he's not putting himself forward as a witness, he's just making the police aware so they can investigate it.

Were none of the 30,000 people at the West Ham game able to do that instead? If that many people heard the chant, and weren't suitably insulted/offended enough to put in a complaint, then for me is begs the question, exactly how bad/insulting were the chants? Is it just that football fans don't care about that sort of thing? Are they not representative of society as a whole? If not then should football chants, heard by football fans exclusively, be held to the same measure as other offensive statements?

 

[BigOscar]

I'd prefer that somebody complaining about an offence had been a direct witness, rather than hearing about it from somebody else, that's a bit too 'man in the pub' for me.

I don't see the problem, he's not putting himself forward as a witness, he's just making the police aware so they can investigate it.

Were none of the 30,000 people at the West Ham game able to do that instead? If that many people heard the chant, and weren't suitably insulted/offended enough to put in a complaint, then for me is begs the question, exactly how bad/insulting were the chants? Is it just that football fans don't care about that sort of thing? Are they not representative of society as a whole? If not then should football chants, heard by football fans exclusively, be held to the same measure as other offensive statements?

So if a club only has right wing racist fans, should they be allowed to make monkey chants, anti-jewish chants, homophobic chants and the like, just so long as no one in the ground complains? I'd expect KickitOut to complain if there was racist chanting, I'd expect the Jewish community would complain about anti-semitic chants, so it seems perfectly sensible for a patron of a down syndrome charity to complain about these chants.

 

[TCIB]

Someone asked me to report this thread as it has offended them.

Ok ok I am going, cunts :-)

 

[burning blue soul]

offensive chanting is offensive chanting, so what is this thread discussing? that offensive chanting is ok as long as no-one complains?