The Skipper

That’s what Leif wants you to think - do you seriously think I would call everyone on here racist?

There’s nothing wrong with what is said there. I’ll repeat it again. I genuinely think some CFC fans didn’t like Emenalo or didn’t respect his role here because he’s of African descent. That doesn’t mean I said every CFC fan (Leif again putting words in people’s mouth, shock).

Shut up? I’m literally a Ghanaian (learn how to spell it) descent. I think I’m far more qualified to tell you about how a Ghanaian would feel about it. I’m telling you that some don’t know the history behind it because blackface never happened in their countries. African Americans weren’t the only ones offended by it... I didn’t call every Chelsea fan racist either. Some of the abuse I’ve heard/seen (not all on here at all) of Emenalo made me come to that conclusion.

Just to add to this - native Ghanaians and Nigerians wouldn’t really automatically know what blackface (a false equivalence again from Leif) and its history is because they obviously wouldn’t have white people painting themselves black in Ghana or Nigeria. As in, they wouldn’t really have experienced it, unless they left their countries. Poor example to bring forward.

I thought he was a bit taller? Where did you get his height from if I may ask?

Griezmann is a well renowned footballer, has a huge platform, he has to be careful with everything he posts on social media, it’ll get scrutinised. In my opinion Griezmann was at fault for being very stupid and insensitive, he is not racist per se... But, we need to condemn blackface because you don’t need to blacken yourself up to imitate a black person (vice versa) and because of the history behind it. I can’t blame you for not understanding what sort of experiences or memories it would bring up for any individual who was offended by what Griezmann did because you won’t have experienced why they’re offended by it yourself. I was offended, hence why I’m pointing out the history behind what Griezmann did. I don’t believe I’m wrong in this case. What is wrong is not trying to educate the offender. Not everyone can rationally do that, but that doesn’t mean what they’re angry about automatically becomes void and false. That’s the narrative I’m seeing here which I truly believe is wrong.

How times have changed... We *still* arguably need a LWB, a CM, a RWB and a RW.....

As would I. But not everyone is like me and you. The problem with this issue is that it unravels a lot of other issues as well, it isn’t as black and white as you make it out to be. You can have good intentions, doesn’t mean what you did isn’t wrong. People have different ways of expressing such. It’s wrong to dismiss the whole thing completely because some people who were offended by it reacted irrationally to it.

He wouldn’t leave Real Madrid. He’s a mainstay at CB.

So, when someone offends you, do you always respond to them in a calm rational manner?

Your approach to this is right, but not everyone’s approach is like that. Some people just laugh it off and don’t even want to listen or hear out on why a person might not be happy about it. I would be willing to talk to you about it because you seem at least open minded enough. In my experience, some people are the opposite - and that’s a problem. That’s what I meant by ignorance. Maybe bigotry is a better word.

I partly agree with what you’re saying hence why I said Griezmann isn’t a racist, he’s ignorant. I have bigger problem with how people are reacting to the perception or history behind blackface as if it wasn’t used in a very derogatory way in the past and secondly, I don’t like my skin colour being used as an accessory in fancy dress. Being black isn’t something you can turn on and off. He doesn’t need to paint himself black to be depicted as a globetrotter.

I will always fight for my people, and equality worldwide. I’m not that offended, I don’t think Griezmann is a racist, just highly ignorant because it doesn’t affect himself or his culture, just like yourself. It isn’t for you to decide how valid someone’s experience is.

Here^. Read my post to Spike if you want to see why I think it’s wrong personally. There’s no point in discussing actually, it seems like you’re not interested in knowing how it can be offensive to other people, or the history or meaning behind it. Remain ignorant .

I edited my post, I would like to hear your response to it fully. Why do you need to paint your skin to impersonate Stevie Wonder... Again the, “I’m not offended by it so let me bury my head in sand and not try to understand why other people might find it offensive” attitude rears it head. Do you seriously think blackface is just an African American issue?

This is almost akin to saying “my country has no Jewish history so why should anyone be offended by [insert something holocaust/nazi related]?”... Why do people always trivialise something they literally have no true experience or as is clear in here, knowledge about? How about you try to learn why it’s offensive to the people that are offended by it, instead of just laughing it off?

You shouldn’t be just glossing over the fact that black actors weren’t hired and white actors instead painted themselves black like that’s a small, moot point. That is inherently racist in itself, and is definitely a big, legitimate reason for why it isn’t okay... surely I don’t need to point that out? Actually, Zwarte Piet is being fiercely debated in Holland, especially in recent years. A lot of people aren’t okay with it and it does spark a lot of racial debate. Read this to get the general gist: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2017/11/28/the-netherlands-holiday-blackface-needs-to-go-once-and-for-all/ Zwarte Piet is just one of the reasons why blackface is troublesome. You’ve come up with some examples of it being used in “harmless” situations but that’s honestly not the point of why it’s derogatory, or bad. Like I said, The reason why blackface is so offensive is because it was used to reinforce negative stereotypes about black people in the past very often and birthed lots of slurs too. Since you brought America into it, I’ll give you some American examples as to how it’s history is shocking. In the 1950s before the civil rights movement you had stuff packaged up like the below for example. Black people were mocked all the time - from not being allowed to sit freely on busses to having their “features” utilised as brands: This was normal in the 50s. You think there’s nothing wrong with that? This is still happening. 2014 in France - http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2014/06/11/01016-20140611ARTFIG00123-la-soiree-des-policiers-deguises-en-noirs-fait-desordre.php - here we have a group of students who decided it’d be funny to have a “Nigger party” - some people still use blackface to mock. Would you say that is okay as well? The history of blackface is not okay, there’s plenty of examples why it’s wrong and I’ve given you a few. As a black person myself, who has experienced being mocked because of his skin colour before, for someone to then use this skin colour as an accessory to dress up with, especially given the bad connotations attached to blackface, it’s offensive. There’s nothing wrong with Griezmann’s general costume, it’s fine that he’s a fan of the Globetrotters obviously, however there was no need for the blackface. The costume would’ve been fine without it - why was that needed? Why in the world did he need to colour his skin to complete the outfit? You genuinely think people wouldn’t get that he was a Globetrotter without blackfacing? You don’t just get to use someone’s skin colour like that. He isn’t exactly racist but it’s just massive ignorance. It’s a byproduct of how society is set up right now. He got rightly corrected about it in my opinion. Can’t be a global superstar and be that ignorant. People that feel offended about it will correct him, and rightly so imo. In general, you guys dismissing it as ok have no right to tell me not to be offended by it when you haven’t physically experienced any of the connotations blackface reminds someone like myself. The narrative of “I’m not offended, so why the hell is that other person?”, especially when you genuinely can’t experience the other person’s plight, needs to die. This is why some black people think discussing race relations/problems etc. isn’t worth their time because people aren’t willing to understand. Lots in this thread dismissing it because they can’t comprehend in the slightest why it’s offensive - I hope you read this and begin to understand somewhat.

Funny he would say Ghanaians and Nigerians are kosher with it. He’s lying. I’m of Ghanaian heritage myself and my family/friends who saw it didn’t think it was cool at all. It’s rubbish.

Hey pal. Sorry I’ve just seen this. If you haven’t gone yet... If you want to experience a lively atmosphere with regular match going fans then the MHL is the one for you. If you want a more quiet setting, then choose the East Stand.

Kinda warming up to the signing a bit more if we could drop the price down to let’s say £60m. Maybe Michy on a loan will do it? We did sign Drinkwater and Bakayoko for £40m so £60m for Lemar isn’t that inconsistent in today’s market. Let’s say we somehow got Sandro in January too, our team would actually look really good. Morata Hazard; Sandro Lemar Bakayoko Kanté Moses; Rüdiger Christensen Azpi; Courtois. That’s an 11 that rivals City’s.

This is why it needs to be condemned as strongly as it was. How else will he learn? Victim mentalities? Blackface is wrong, and he got called out for it, end of. What do you want people to do, just leave him and not correct him about it?

No. SJW has nothing to do with this. Look up on the history of blackface. What he did was wrong. It’s major ignorance. Anyway, looks like he’d fit right in with those train lot, sign him up.

“Deep lying back heel merchant” come back bro. Either way, I do agree. F9 Hazard is way too isolated. He isn’t as devistating as Messi in the box and he doesn’t have the right quality around him for it to work properly imo. We looked better with Morata as the focal point.

Funny thing is, neither argument is really incorrect. Last thing I'll say - Mbappé was one of the best players in the CL - and in his league (Finished YPOTY + Golden Boy and in TOTS). But like you said, at this point it's just become a tedious argument.

Little party pooper. I've moved the Hazard discussion to his thread guys. @BlueLyon @MrExcalibur100