Have you heard the one where the Spanish national basketball team makes “slanted eyes” for a flick? No? Well, it’s not that funny. We as Americans, yes, are a tad more PC than the rest of the world but some actions are indefensible. The shot above was an ad sponsored by Spanish courier company, Seur and ironically enough also by Chinese company Li-Ning Footwear to appear in Marca, a Spanish mag. As a Latino AKA of mixed Spanish and Indian blood I understand how La Madre Patria can be. Dating back to when they conquered AKA raped mi gente’s (Incas) land, Spaniards have always looked down on Latin Americans.
I’m sure most Spaniards are not racist but this pic only reinforces that stereotype. “No eres de sangre pura (You’re not of pure [Spanish] blood),” they would say. That’s why as much as Spain is a cosmetically beautiful country I have no intention of ever visiting. That’s why when they lump Antonio Banderas, Penelope Cruz and even the great Javier Bardem into Latino Hollywood I ain’t claiming them. They’re Spaniards, Europeans and Hispanics meaning from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain & Portugal) not meaning the U.S. government label placed upon us.
Here’s a response from one of the Spanish team’s ballers, Jose Calderon, who also plays for the Toronto Raptors.
“We did it because we thought it was going to be something nice, something with no problem,” Calderon told Yahoo! Sports. “But somebody wants to talk about it. It is too much of a big deal with you guys (the media) and everybody talking about that.”
SMH. Yep, I guess it was the media back in the 1500s that spawned the villainous image of the gold-grubbing, raping Spanish conquistador. Oh no, wait, that was history.
Uno,
Jesus
2 comments:
I was baffled by Calderon's comments and everyone who saw NOTHING wrong with this.
What on earth is nice about slanting your eyes to pretend your Asian? No one was able to even articulate clearly the point of this ad. What was supposed to be nice?
As for you not visiting Spain, I disagree! Go visit! It is a beautiful country and while yes, there are some ignorant and racist people there, not everyone is. I've had plenty of racist experiences in the US, but I wouldn't tell people not to visit America because of them.
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