olympian expelled for racist tweet ?

Godfather.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/gre ... d=16856393

I just don't see the racism here.

"With so many Africans in Greece, at least the mosquitoes of West Nile will eat homemade food!!!" she tweeted Sunday.

Godfather.

know1

I agree. I don't see anything wrong.

catefrances

"With so many Africans in Greece, at least the mosquitoes of West Nile will eat homemade food!!!"

i dont even know what the fuck shes trying to say/insinuate.

Jason P

Greece has a very far-right neo-nazi political group (Golden Dawn) w/ strong anti-immigrant stance. Dimi can probably give a better rundown on them, but they appear to be no good and mean. But they got 7% of the popular vote in the last election.

Taken from that perspective, it displayed ill-judgement, especially when you are a goodwill athlete that has been sent to represent your entire country. I don't fault anyone for booting her.

Pap

OK, guys. Of course it is a racist comment. Here in Greece, we have already diagnosed 18 people (I don't know where they come from or their ages) having been infected by the virus of the West Nile. It can be really serious. It's not a joke. So, what this young (only 23 ) Greek athlete tried to say is that either the mosquitoes will now have the chance to suck the blood of not only the Greeks but also some Africans who live in Greece too (hometown food ?! WTF?! They're humans! What is she a cannibal?) or that these Africans brought the problem (mosquitoes => virus of West Nile) with them. Therefore, she's kind of representing the (extreme) right-wing parties here that they are in favor of the deportation of all illegal immigrants. Everybody here wants a peaceful resolution of the immigration issue, but either it's indeed a very complicated task or our governments all these years try to represent it to us as such. In any case, we must find a solution as soon as possible, but always with the human rights in mind. We don't need blind racist attacks.

cincybearcat

Pap wrote:

they are in favor of the deportation of all illegal immigrants.

God forbid. :roll:

As to the tweet, not very smart. But I think we should stop overreacting to this nonsense and open up a dialogue about it instead of stifling any dialogue by immediately condemning people that make nonsense tweets, etc. I don't agree with kicking her off the team for this, again, it;s a teachable moment, and what do we decide to teach? Not much.

Jason P

cincybearcat wrote:

Pap wrote:

they are in favor of the deportation of all illegal immigrants.

God forbid. :roll:

As to the tweet, not very smart. But I think we should stop overreacting to this nonsense and open up a dialogue about it instead of stifling any dialogue by immediately condemning people that make nonsense tweets, etc. I don't agree with kicking her off the team for this, again, it;s a teachable moment, and what do we decide to teach? Not much.

The party is in favor of deporting all immigrants, legal and illegal. There slogan is:

Greece for the Greeks
Blood, honor, Golden Dawn

Plus, they use Nazi symbolism in their flag ... and 7% of voters are on their side. :?

I think Pap has a good pulse on this from a Greek perspective.

Godfather.

o.k I get now but the tweet contained no recist remarks...but apperently given the situation in Greece it ofended the immagrants in Greece...ummm sounds like the US.

Godfather.

StillHere

i guess unless you are in Greece what she is saying is a little confusing
sounds innocent from here
so she is saying that
1. the mosquitos will bite the black folks being their native food?
2. the mosquitos will bite the greek folks hence homemade, born in greece?

i'm not sure, but i wish people wouldn't be so sensitive all the time

its not good for anyone

Pap

cincybearcat wrote:

Pap wrote:

they are in favor of the deportation of all illegal immigrants.

God forbid. :roll:

My country and my people, of course can't afford them or stand this situation anymore. I got your irony, but they're still humans and they came here or wherever they can go, for a decent job and as a result a better life. This problem must have been already solved by previous governments and must have always been faced with providence. It's a very thin problem because it's related very close to human lives. What all these developed countries have to teach us? Sink their illegal boat and let 900 people drown to death (Italy)? Racism and neo-nazi movements (Germany, UK, USA, Sweden, France and unfortunately many more countries)? Sorry, but as a young person with not so many experiences, I don't get it and yes I still dream that I can make this world a better place. I'm proud to be a Greek because my ancient ancestors taught everything about culture in the whole world and our new generations took the Greek civilization with them wherever they migrated (the Greeks have been migrating for reasons such as the current economic crisis for 50 years now) and made the same thing only because other people let them be free and do so. So why we can't co-exist?


P.S: Jason P, I have to defend the Golden Dawn (not exactly supporters of Hitler but more like a dictatorial party imho) here: Their symbol is not a swastika but an ancient Greek symbol called meander (A meander or meandros is a decorative border constructed from a continuous line, shaped into a repeated motif).

dimitrispearljam

her comment-joke was racist..
she need to respect human beigns...
she can keep her opinion for her friends and family..
when she represent our country, the one Democracy was born ,at the Olympic Games,which their spirit is to unite people and not put out rasism,she need to be carefull when talks in public..
posting on twiter is public..

from the other hand i would love to see Greek Authorities to be the same fast as in this matter..

as for her political ideas ,i dont have any problem if she want to support and vote even the nazi party..its her choice..
but from the moment she wear the uniform with our flag on it,she need to be careful of what she says...

catefrances

dimitrispearljam wrote:

her comment-joke was racist..
she need to respect human beigns...
she can keep her opinion for her friends and family..
when she represent our country, the one Democracy was born ,at the Olympic Games,which their spirit is to unite people and not put out rasism,she need to be carefull when talks in public..
posting on twiter is public..

from the other hand i would love to see Greek Authorities to be the same fast as in this matter..

as for her political ideas ,i dont have any problem if she want to support and vote even the nazi party..its her choice..
but from the moment she wear the uniform with our flag on it,she need to be careful of what she says...

the one demcocracy???

Pap

Godfather. wrote:

Apparently given the situation in Greece it offended the immigrants in Greece.

Not only the immigrants, in my humble opinion. For example me too, not only as a Greek citizen but as a so-called civilized human being. Despite our different cultures (Greece-Africa), we are both humans.

StillHere wrote:

so she is saying that
1. the mosquitos will bite the black folks being their native food?
2. the mosquitos will bite the greek folks hence homemade, born in greece?

1. A: Maybe.
2. A: I never saw it this way. Maybe, I'm a little bit biased. Good point. That the Greek folks will get infected because of these dirty black folks who brought their infected mosquitoes with them. Seriously Jo, you have to come here and have a quick look at where these folks live and what they eat.

Very well said Big Dimi.

Pap

catefrances wrote:

the one demcocracy???

Big Dimi said: when she represent our country, the one Democracy was born. He means the country in which democracy was born. Do you doubt it?

dimitrispearljam

catefrances wrote:

dimitrispearljam wrote:

her comment-joke was racist..
she need to respect human beigns...
she can keep her opinion for her friends and family..
when she represent our country, the one Democracy was born ,at the Olympic Games,which their spirit is to unite people and not put out rasism,she need to be carefull when talks in public..
posting on twiter is public..

from the other hand i would love to see Greek Authorities to be the same fast as in this matter..

as for her political ideas ,i dont have any problem if she want to support and vote even the nazi party..its her choice..
but from the moment she wear the uniform with our flag on it,she need to be careful of what she says...

the one demcocracy???

the country i mean..has coma after country..

SPEEDY MCCREADY

Open mouth
Insert foot
Get kicked off the Olympic team

Some of lifes lessons are more costly than others...

Jason P

Pap wrote:

P.S: Jason P, I have to defend the Golden Dawn (not exactly supporters of Hitler but more like a dictatorial party imho) here: Their symbol is not a swastika but an ancient Greek symbol called meander (A meander or meandros is a decorative border constructed from a continuous line, shaped into a repeated motif).

I assumed it was a runic symbol ... learn something everyday.

StillHere

Pap wrote:

Godfather. wrote:

Apparently given the situation in Greece it offended the immigrants in Greece.

Not only the immigrants, in my humble opinion. For example me too, not only as a Greek citizen but as a so-called civilized human being. Despite our different cultures (Greece-Africa), we are both humans.

StillHere wrote:

so she is saying that
1. the mosquitos will bite the black folks being their native food?
2. the mosquitos will bite the greek folks hence homemade, born in greece?

1. A: Maybe.
2. A: I never saw it this way. Maybe, I'm a little bit biased. Good point. That the Greek folks will get infected because of these dirty black folks who brought their infected mosquitoes with them. Seriously Jo, you have to come here and have a quick look at where these folks live and what they eat.

Very well said Big Dimi.

Pap...I hope its "her" calling them "dirty black folks" and not you. Right?
I don't know about the situation over there, but I do know that there is racism over the top in our country, and I sure wish we could all learn to get along. After all, we all came from the same place...whether you believe in a God or in Evolution...we are all one.

Pap

StillHere wrote:

Pap...I hope its "her" calling them "dirty black folks" and not you. Right?

Of course! It's not exactly what she said. I just extracted that from her tweet. Irony. If she had posted something like that, we would have a diplomatic episode.

StillHere

Pap wrote:

StillHere wrote:

Pap...I hope its "her" calling them "dirty black folks" and not you. Right?

Of course! It's not exactly what she said. I just extracted that from her tweet. Irony. If she had posted something like that, we would have a diplomatic episode.

Absolutely! I knew it wasn't you.

cincybearcat

Jason P wrote:

cincybearcat wrote:

Pap wrote:

they are in favor of the deportation of all illegal immigrants.

God forbid. :roll:

As to the tweet, not very smart. But I think we should stop overreacting to this nonsense and open up a dialogue about it instead of stifling any dialogue by immediately condemning people that make nonsense tweets, etc. I don't agree with kicking her off the team for this, again, it;s a teachable moment, and what do we decide to teach? Not much.

The party is in favor of deporting all immigrants, legal and illegal. There slogan is:

Greece for the Greeks
Blood, honor, Golden Dawn

Plus, they use Nazi symbolism in their flag ... and 7% of voters are on their side. :?

I think Pap has a good pulse on this from a Greek perspective.

Except he said "illegal immigrants" and that is what I'm responding to.

cincybearcat

Pap wrote:

So why we can't co-exist?

I think we can...you said "illegal immigrants", meaning they did not enter the country legally. That, I have a problem with. And again, it's another topic that can;t be discussed because 1 side of the argument simply wants to shout that the other side is racist, etc. While that may be true in some cases, it is the minority, and doesn't make the problem go away.

Again, it brings up the bigger issue that we have now stifled important dialogue for fear that some may be offended by the discussion. So no one learns a thing and we just continue to shout at each other.

All kicking her off the team does is hide those feeling and make her go away so the rest of us can go back to our fake happy lives and pretend it never happened.

BinauralJam

i laughed

brianlux

The tweet has a racist tone to me. If I'd read this without the commentary of the press or the ever-astute AMT forum members, my gut feeling would be, "This is racist". Beyond that, I have to say this is another example of how many people- myself included at times though I'm working on it- are sometimes too opaque in posting on the internet or don't think about what we're saying before posting. If she'd previewed her post and had thought about it she would have realized her comment was offensive. Hopefully this she will learn two things:

1. Racism is not cool

2. Think about what you're saying before you hit "enter".

cincybearcat

brianlux wrote:

The tweet has a racist tone to me. If I'd read this without the commentary of the press or the ever-astute AMT forum members, my gut feeling would be, "This is racist". Beyond that, I have to say this is another example of how many people- myself included at times though I'm working on it- are sometimes too opaque in posting on the internet or don't think about what we're saying before posting. If she'd previewed her post and had thought about it she would have realized her comment was offensive. Hopefully this she will learn two things:

1. Racism is not cool

2. Think about what you're saying before you hit "enter".

My bet, because of the way this was handled, she'll won't change and will simply blame her loss of her spot on the team on those Africans in Greece. Maybe I'm being pessimistic today.

hedonist

cincybearcat wrote:

Again, it brings up the bigger issue that we have now stifled important dialogue for fear that some may be offended by the discussion. So no one learns a thing and we just continue to shout at each other.

All kicking her off the team does is hide those feeling and make her go away so the rest of us can go back to our fake happy lives and pretend it never happened.

This makes so much sense it's almost ridiculous.

brianlux

hedonist wrote:

cincybearcat wrote:

Again, it brings up the bigger issue that we have now stifled important dialogue for fear that some may be offended by the discussion. So no one learns a thing and we just continue to shout at each other.

All kicking her off the team does is hide those feeling and make her go away so the rest of us can go back to our fake happy lives and pretend it never happened.

This makes so much sense it's almost ridiculous.

I'd overlooked this part of your post, Cincy. It does make sense. Keeping discussion open (as long as it doesn't bog down to the point of redundancy) is important. It's one of the things I like about AMT.

Pap

cincybearcat wrote:

My bet, because of the way this was handled, she'll won't change and will simply blame her loss of her spot on the team on those Africans in Greece.

She has already become a "heroine" for the chauvinists. In addition, she will be a guest at today's 8 o'clock news of a big Greek private television channel. She might get what she wanted?... :? I won't be surprised if I hear that she managed to find her way into the parliament. Of course as a candidate of one of the right-wing parties. At this point, I would like to point out that I'm not a supporter of a particular party and so politically biased. It's all about what she represents as an Olympic Games athlete and what the whole Olympic Games stand for.

P.S: The same thing happens every time: A stupid clown manages to divide a whole nation with their unthoughtful comments.

hedonist

Pap wrote:

P.S: The same thing happens every time: A stupid clown manages to divide a whole nation with their unthoughtful comments.

Is it possible that a whole nation has allowed itself to be divided by the unthoughtful comments of a stupid clown?

Pap

hedonist wrote:

Pap wrote:

P.S: The same thing happens every time: A stupid clown manages to divide a whole nation with their unthoughtful comments.

Is it possible that a whole nation has allowed itself to be divided by the unthoughtful comments of a stupid clown?

Sometimes, unfortunately yes. The same thing happened exactly one month ago (political violence episode during pre-election season). You can imagine the tension. For me, it's always a mass media fault. They spend way too much air-time to let these clowns lobotomize us with their bullshit. They end up with a local - or worse, sometimes international - publicity, the size of which they can't even imagine.

cincybearcat

hedonist wrote:

Pap wrote:

P.S: The same thing happens every time: A stupid clown manages to divide a whole nation with their unthoughtful comments.

Is it possible that a whole nation has allowed itself to be divided by the unthoughtful comments of a stupid clown?

Or, the nation is divided on a topic but can't talk about it openly so they wait until a clown messes up, lambaste the clown for it and make them go away so that they can continue to not address the issue that is dividing the nation and we are back to square 1.