English politician weighs in on Monty Panesar's racial abuse
I can't say I'm surprised to hear Monty Panesar was racially abused by Sydney crowds at the warm-up match against NSW. One spectator is reported to have called out:
"Give us a wave Monty. You can't speak English you stupid Indian, I'll have to say it in Indian. What are you doing playing in the English side, you're not English."Now I'm wary of anything James Sutherland has to say on racial issues after his "different cultures" comment but I have to agree with him that the abuse wasn't that bad. Sure, the comments are ignorant and offensive but I think Monty is in for a lot worse this summer. South Africa copped nastier stuff last year. The sad fact is it doesn't take much to put together an ugly mob. Take a few deadbeats, add alcohol and an opponent slightly different in race, belief, appearance or lifestyle and voila - a mob of raving bigots.
But as if the situation wasn't charged enough, Britain's Minister for Sport, Richard Caborn has denounced the incident, stating he would talk to Australia's Minister for Sport about it. Coincidentally, Caborn just happens to be in India at the moment. When politicians start grandstanding about cricket, it's never turns out good. It was years before Murali agreed to tour Australia after John Howard labelled him a chucker (and it took a tsunami for it to happen).
| Posted by JC on Fri 17 Nov |  13 comments |
Australians are by and large one of the most neutral & civilsied peoples of the world in their outlook of 'other' peoples & their cultures. In this particular instance it looks like Monty has been singled out by the not-so-appreciative who have been taken aback that this bearded sensation could pose a threat to their wickets, and the stray remarks that have come around, while not in good taste, are largely a result of being unable to accept that the Poms could (for a pleasant change)have a todally different sensation to present to the world.
Sikhs are respected worldwide for their courage, honesty and hard work & their unflinching devotion to their core religious & cultural values.
I'm positive Monty will stand his ground, and be able to show the world how we need to be more appreciative of cultures & religions that we might not know much about.
Go Monty go, give them the thunder and a positive learning curve.
You kick!
Posted by Tej007 on 2006-11-17 20:33:25
Sikhs are respected worldwide for their courage, honesty and hard work & their unflinching devotion to their core religious & cultural values.
I'm positive Monty will stand his ground, and be able to show the world how we need to be more appreciative of cultures & religions that we might not know much about.
Go Monty go, give them the thunder and a positive learning curve.
You kick!
Posted by Tej007 on 2006-11-17 20:33:25
Stop the racist rubbish as posted above. There is a small racist eliment in every society. You don`t have to be white to be a racist as the above post proves.
Posted by AussieBry on 2006-11-18 18:50:09
Posted by AussieBry on 2006-11-18 18:50:09
As a pom, i'd say racsits exist in any culture. Australia no more, no less.
The ignorant thing about the abuse is that Monty was born in England, and speaks better English than most of the team LOL.
As for the 2nd poster - don't you love the irony of a racist poster complaining about racism?
Posted by madbob on 2006-11-18 23:16:30
The ignorant thing about the abuse is that Monty was born in England, and speaks better English than most of the team LOL.
As for the 2nd poster - don't you love the irony of a racist poster complaining about racism?
Posted by madbob on 2006-11-18 23:16:30
Its all this sort of rubbish thats going to cast a black cloud over what should just be an amazing series! We all know its probably gonna be a tough winter for Monty but surely we should all just be talking about the cricket not where the players are from or their religion...why does that have to affect everthing??
Posted by okbl on 2006-11-19 21:15:08
Posted by okbl on 2006-11-19 21:15:08
Yes, many Australians are racist. Being born and raised in country Australia I can tell you that this is true. There are also many chauvinists, louts, and plain idiots in the country. Mix all this together with endless supplies of alcohol flowing freely from 10:00 am and you get a predictable result. How can you tell the difference between a drunk yobbo and a racist at the cricket? I have seen exposed breasts, fights, arrests, language that made my parents cringe at cricket games in Australia. I really don't mind if they ban booze at cricket grounds -- I think 99% of the problems including these racist jibes would disappear.
Posted by TA on 2006-11-19 22:22:07
Posted by TA on 2006-11-19 22:22:07
I forgot to mention, though, that I agree with Madbob: let's not pretend Aussies have some special gene that makes them worse than anyone else! What I love so much about cricket (and always have) is that I used to mimic two bowlers when I was growing up: Geoff Lawson and Abdul Qadir! Cricket brings us all closer together in ways we don't quite realise until later in life.
Posted by TA on 2006-11-19 22:33:09
Posted by TA on 2006-11-19 22:33:09
As someone who has been racially abused in my life, I tend to find racism tends to come out when the person isn't smart enough to think of a better insult. So its no coincidence that drunken yobbos turn to racism.
Mind you calling someone a stupid indian is hardly a racist comment. Its like calling an English cricket player a "pommie bastard" or an English bastard or a stupid Englishman.
Racism only seems valid if your not white. For example if I called someone a "white" bastard it wouldn't cause a stir.
Now if I changed that word to another colour well, you can imagine the uproar.
Please note I am not naive enough to believe there aren't some racist idiots out there, but there are those in any country in the world, Australia is not special.
Posted by Andrew on 2006-11-20 13:42:50
Mind you calling someone a stupid indian is hardly a racist comment. Its like calling an English cricket player a "pommie bastard" or an English bastard or a stupid Englishman.
Racism only seems valid if your not white. For example if I called someone a "white" bastard it wouldn't cause a stir.
Now if I changed that word to another colour well, you can imagine the uproar.
Please note I am not naive enough to believe there aren't some racist idiots out there, but there are those in any country in the world, Australia is not special.
Posted by Andrew on 2006-11-20 13:42:50
'Racism only seems valid if your not white' - I disagree with that point - Talk's racist comments here are quite offensive and I'm going to start deleting them from this point on.
Posted by JC on 2006-11-20 14:04:39
Posted by JC on 2006-11-20 14:04:39
Hey JC
I reckon leave Talk's comments they are a good way to show true racism from drunken racism.
My comment about "white versus non white racism" is more to show the double standard applied to racism in Australia. Imagine alot of the comments that are made about the English and replace Pom with any other race in the world and you would be called a racist.
Personally I just get so tired of seeing racist being thrown out there constantly. I find it offensive that all Australians get tagged with it.
Racism is simply a sterotype of a particular group of people. ie: Australians are good at sport, or Australians are drunks and racists.
Both could be considered a racist comment.
Just an example of how riduclous people are getting with regards to racism.
Posted by Andrew on 2006-11-20 14:22:43
I reckon leave Talk's comments they are a good way to show true racism from drunken racism.
My comment about "white versus non white racism" is more to show the double standard applied to racism in Australia. Imagine alot of the comments that are made about the English and replace Pom with any other race in the world and you would be called a racist.
Personally I just get so tired of seeing racist being thrown out there constantly. I find it offensive that all Australians get tagged with it.
Racism is simply a sterotype of a particular group of people. ie: Australians are good at sport, or Australians are drunks and racists.
Both could be considered a racist comment.
Just an example of how riduclous people are getting with regards to racism.
Posted by Andrew on 2006-11-20 14:22:43
Too late, already deleted. I left them for a while but the continual barrage of comments all on the same theme just really got to me and added nothing to the discussion hence they're now deleted.
Posted by JC on 2006-11-20 14:41:00
Posted by JC on 2006-11-20 14:41:00
is australians arent racist, then why do australians always appear on the forefront when racism is being discussed? its because they are always involved with racist activites. The players and the spectators. Theres something about being a good athlete or sportsman but backing it up with racism is just not right.
Posted by vikram on 2007-06-01 03:27:20
Posted by vikram on 2007-06-01 03:27:20
Post New Comment
You need to be logged in to post a comment. If you're new, register here. Existing users, login via the right margin.
