UEFA Euro 2012 Poland-Ukraine: Germans Glowing with Anticipation

[Tamas]

racist jokes derive from racism, which implies a qualitive difference between races.

Are you saying that it is acceptable to do so? Not allowing that just falls behind cultural relativism?

I am glad the typical backwater Polack is finally surfacing.

[Tamas]

"it is natural" is the lamest fucking excuse ever. 

[Martinus]

racist jokes derive from racism, which implies a qualitive difference between races.

Are you saying that it is acceptable to do so? Not allowing that just falls behind cultural relativism?

I am glad the typical backwater Polack is finally surfacing.

I think you are trying too hard to appear cultured to a Languish crowd, but they will continue making their "non-racist" jokes about qualitative differences between beet-growing, swamp-dwelling Hungarians and Westerners, nonetheless.

Incidentally, I do think you are racist - because of the stuff you say about the Roma. I don't consider jokes to be racist. I consider advocating displacing entire cultures to be racist. 

[Grey Fox]

White guilt, it hurts.

[DGuller]

Again, an ugly person cannot stop being ugly the same way a black person cannot stop being black and a gay person cannot stop being gay -

[Tamas]

Don't project yourself on me, buddy.

[Martinus]

Don't project yourself on me, buddy.

Sorry, I met you and you are not my type.

[Tamas]

I thought this was just a shtick you were trying to develop, but now I am starting to realize you actually have really no understanding of why demeaning racist jokes are bad for society and why they are consequently shunned. Amazing. No wonder there are no more jews in Poland.

[Martinus]

I thought this was just a shtick you were trying to develop, but now I am starting to realize you actually have really no understanding of why demeaning racist jokes are bad for society and why they are consequently shunned. Amazing. No wonder there are no more jews in Poland.

There are many Jews in Poland. There is a thriving Jewish religious community in Warsaw, headed by a gay rabbi. Your stereotypes about Poland are pretty racist, by the way. But I guess it is allowed since we have different skin pigment composition.

[Josephus]

Yeah whatever.

So back to football. Slow start to England game. Two nice goals though. England expectedly fairly unimpressive. Fairly sound defence, though Hart worries me.

[The Larch]

Yeah whatever.

So back to football. Slow start to England game. Two nice goals though. England expectedly fairly unimpressive. Fairly sound defence, though Hart worries me.

He showed great reflexes on the Diarra header.

[FunkMonk]

England plumbing new lows of sucktitude. Only good thing about them is Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Fortunately for them France also sucks. Still pegging a French win here though.

[Sheilbh]

You are using British/Western standard and considering it universal. That is not the case. Deal with it.

You're defending racial abuse based on a culturally relativist argument against the West?

It's worth saying that black players who've played in England in recent years do tend to say it's better than other European countries.  That's not because of some post-colonial thing but due to an immigration society - which will happen in Poland - and  concerted effort by anti-racism campaigners and the authorities.  It's not an accidental choice - and I don't think anti-racism in the UK (or US) is terribly informed by anti-colonialism or anything like that.

Also as I say the complaints so far have been by the English, the Dutch, Italians and Czechs.  This isn't some 'Anglo-Saxon' thing and to the extent it's a 'Western' thing I'd always considered Poland part of the West

Why would you then demand that such societies conform automatically to your view of this?

You're hosting the Euros.  If you want to have racist-friendly football tournaments, go wild.  Similarly I expect FIFA to take steps with the Russians on racism and to make it clear (Blatter's comments notwithstanding) what's expected of Qatar with relation to gays and women.

I mean, it is conceivable that there may be teams from even more diverse cultures, who may find some other tolerated behaviour from the sport fans to be unacceptable. And conversely, for Poles, the stuff about Smolensk flag and paper airplanes is more offensive than making monkey sounds. Why would you usurp a right to decide what is and what isn't acceptable at a game which features players and sport fans from different cultures.

Well let's be clear the abuse at black players isn't because they're from a different culture or an attempt to hit a sore point.  The 'jokes' aren't that they're a bit stupid or ugly.  It's that they're inferior to white people and basically animals.

Having said that I take your point about other offensive abuse.  It could be an issue with Russia-Poland and should be dealt with.  Generally though I think that's more at the club level - Hillsborough or Munich chants.

[Sheilbh]

England plumbing new lows of sucktitude. Only good thing about them is Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Joe Hart too.

[Zanza]

Boring second half.