Symonds and racial / personal slurs
Andrew Symonds's latest thing about Brendon McCullum being a lump of shit was pretty out there. I'm not for that sort of thing in the "cricket should be a polite game" sense, but at the same time people should be allowed to express themselves as they like. So I'm not too fussed about the occurrence, neither does McCullum seem to be.
The distinction I'd like to make is between a racial slur and a personal slur ... which would you find more offensive? For me, being somewhat rational, the racial slur would merely cause me to think that the slurrer cannot possibly know all the ins and outs of a race or culture, and is therefore small-minded and plain wrong - and easily dismissed from mind.
The personal slur to me is slightly more upsetting, as obviously there is a first-hand interaction between two people, and the slur is based on what is immediately seen. I could dismiss this as well after some thought, as the particular action that induced the insult may not have been representative of my entire nature, or may have been misconstrued.
For Andrew Symonds to be the kind of person to be concerned about a racial slur from Harbhajan and then be able to publicly call someone a lump of shit, is a bit on the nose. As I say, I don't mind too much about what he said, that's the kind of statement that anyone should learn to brush off, public figure or not. But I see some psychologist has declared that Symonds should be good to go and "won't be a disruption" if he's allowed to continue. I don't think you can change his character... your thoughts?
Andrew Symonds's latest thing about Brendon McCullum being a lump of shit was pretty out there. I'm not for that sort of thing in the "cricket should be a polite game" sense, but at the same time people should be allowed to express themselves as they like. So I'm not too fussed about the occurrence, neither does McCullum seem to be.
The distinction I'd like to make is between a racial slur and a personal slur ... which would you find more offensive? For me, being somewhat rational, the racial slur would merely cause me to think that the slurrer cannot possibly know all the ins and outs of a race or culture, and is therefore small-minded and plain wrong - and easily dismissed from mind.
The personal slur to me is slightly more upsetting, as obviously there is a first-hand interaction between two people, and the slur is based on what is immediately seen. I could dismiss this as well after some thought, as the particular action that induced the insult may not have been representative of my entire nature, or may have been misconstrued.
For Andrew Symonds to be the kind of person to be concerned about a racial slur from Harbhajan and then be able to publicly call someone a lump of shit, is a bit on the nose. As I say, I don't mind too much about what he said, that's the kind of statement that anyone should learn to brush off, public figure or not. But I see some psychologist has declared that Symonds should be good to go and "won't be a disruption" if he's allowed to continue. I don't think you can change his character... your thoughts?