Now this is either sheer awesomeness, or sheer dumbassery. It’s getting so I can’t tell the difference anymore.
HMV have withdrawn ‘Anyone But England’ banners from its Scottish stores after complaints to police that they were inciting racial hatred.
The high street chain put up large window displays and stocked T-shirts featuring the slogan ‘ABE’ in the run-up to the World Cup.
However, they were besieged by calls from angry members of the public and the Campaign for an English Parliament (CEP) made a complaint to police in Fife that the company were inciting racial hatred.
In short: HMV (which I gather is a clothing store-chain) carried clothes that root *against* England in the World Cup (that exceedingly dull sporting event that’s currently going on in South Africa)… and some group of yahoos made a case that this was “inciting racial hatred.”
Snerk.
“Racist?” This is as hilarious as when the French government tried to protect their business relationships with Saddam Hussein back in 2003, the American people did their traditional French-bashing (“Freedom Fries.” Gah.), and the claim was made that it was “racist.” As if in this day and age “English” or “French” are distinct races. Line up a group of ten Frenchmen, ten Englishmen and ten Scotsmen, have them wear identical outfits, cover up any relevant tattoos and have them keep their yaps shut, and I dare anyone to reliably sort them into their “races.”
I’ve seen a whole lot of American sports fans rooting *against* traditional rivals. And while I couldn’t care less about professional sports (oh, gee, what better way to blow a few hundred bucks than watching millionaires play a chldish game), I shudder to imagine what chaos would be unleashed if American sports were to be infected by the “race card”-playing jackholes. Oh, wait… something like this, I imagine.
2 Responses to ““Racism,” the all-purpose complaint”
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I have never understood sports. Whether they win or lose, they all get paid and they all get to do all over again. Also, this sort of thing can be done only while not doing something that makes a better mousetrap; why is it central to lives?
My ex-wife was a Redskins fan. I asked her once why she insisted on saying “we” when talking about the games, given that she wasn’t on the team. I also asked why it was important to pay attention to some over-muscled guys who ran around on a field, chased a ball, and hurt each other. Maybe that’s why I’m not married to her any more.
(I admit to enjoying Australian Rules Football. I can’t see that there are many rules. Maybe something against dismemberment and murder, and there’s a dim sense that the ball has to be moved from one end of the field to the other, but that seems to be it.)
HMV = “His Master’s Voice” — it’s a recorded media store (CDs, DVDs, Blu-Ray, lifestyle accessories, etc.)