Racism from the Spanish Olympic Basketball Team?

By Jayar Jackson

In anticipation for the Olympics in Beijing, the Spanish basketball team took a picture for an advertisement a courier company had carried in a major Spanish newspaper. In the picture, all the players pulled the sides of their eyes, making the well known "slant eyed" look that mocks Asians' most recognizable feature.

No one on or associated with the team or the courier company that ran the ad seemed to find anything offensive or distasteful about the photo that included a Chinese dragon in the middle of the basketball floor. But many Chinese and other Asians didn't have to look very long to see racism oozing through the page.


The first thing to wonder is "what the hell were they thinking?" These guys aren't isolated to a small village that preaches hate and racism against anyone not like themselves. One of their star players, Pau Gasol, is a very popular NBA player, currently with the Los Angeles Lakers after spending over 6 years with the Memphis Grizzlies. Such a traveled individual must realize how the Chinese, the host country for the Olympics, would take this gesture. Even if he was riding off of the comradery of his fellow Spaniards, as he pulled his eyes back and laughed for the cameras, he must have been thinking in the back of his mind that this won't be something others will understand.

So this begs the question, are the Spanish so racist that they don't even realize it? Or, are the Spanish are just so accepting of other races, ethnicities, and cultures that their offbeat humor is nothing more than a simple joke? Does it really mean that the Spanish Basketball Federation, the courier company, and the newspaper that ran the ad are all so hateful and racist that they would boldly put this highly offensive image out there as they head to China? What is Spain's history with Asian countries...do they have something against the Chinese?

While reading discussions about this touchy subject, I found that some defenders of the Spanish mindset point out that Asian people's eyes ARE slanted and wonder why they are so offended when it's pointed out. Maybe everyone else is being a little ultra P.C. The Spanish always brazenly make fun of others and some say they see it all in good fun, harboring no ill will.

Then again, as I read this story, I got some flashbacks of stories out of Spain where football (soccer) players were mocked and called ugly racist names. As Black players touched the ball, fans would make monkey noises and bananas were thrown in their direction. Sure, those were a bunch of rowdy, out of control soccer fans, typical in some countries in Europe, but what about Luis Aragonés?

The Spanish football manager was caught on tape in front of a bunch of reporters referring to the French player Thierry Henry as "that Black shit." Although he apologized saying he hadn't meant to offend anyone, he continued to defend his comments.

There are racist people in every country in the world, Spain included. They have their preconceived ideas as to what others are like, painting them in a negative light to prop themselves up. This slanted Chinese eyes picture the national team took has to be categorized as racially insensitive. They may not disrespect and hate their Chinese hosts for the Olympics, but they don't seem to care that some jokes are not acceptable, whether they see the offensiveness or not. In the end, some Spanish people are obviously racist and they simply don't deserve a reputable organization to legitimize their hateful beliefs.