Enjoy the photo of Spanish basketball team making slant-eyes in their photo-op for Olympics. This photo ran on a full page in the Spanish sports daily, Marca.
Somehow, the Korean's Pau Gasol jersey feels a bit tainted. But given the choke job he did during the NBA Finals, perhaps no more taint is possible.
Source: Deadspin, via Spoiler.
-UPDATE: 8/12/08 8:21 p.m. EST- Sure enough, Spanish newspapers are defending this picture. For people who can't read Spanish, the title is "Does this picture seem racist to you?", and the first sentence reads: "What began as a simple graceful photo to wish luck to the Spanish basketball team in the Olympic Games has finished with accusations of racism and discrimination in the foreign press."
God bless America.
-UPDATE: 8/13/08 1:42 p.m. EST - This gets better and better. Jose Calderon, a member of the Spanish national team, says "We felt it was something appropriate, and that it would be interpreted as an affectionate gesture[.]" But wait, here comes the "I have yellow friends!" defense: "We have great respect for the Far East and its people, some of my best friends in Toronto are originally Chinese[.]"
Here is another reason why America is the least racist country in the world -- Americans understand what actions are racist.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@hotmail.com.
"Gracioso" means "humorous" not "graceful". I don't see much humour in the photo (never did)
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