Roy Hodgson Race Gaffe: Monkeys Outraged At Being Compared To Slack-Jawed, Tattooed England Footballers
WHEN Roy Hodgson used the word” “monkey” in the vicinity of Spurs’s mixed-race Andros Townsend the papers seized on his “gaffe“. They are still seizing. The Mail’s Rob Shepherd writes:
The Football Association have launched a covert investigation into how Roy Hodgson’s race gaffe was leaked to a national newspaper.
Earlier Nail Ashton and Hugo Guye told us that Hodgson has apologised for his “gaffe“, although the paper’s headline writer billed “monkey as a “jibe”.
England manager Roy Hodgson has been forced to make a bizarre apology after making a joke about a monkey while referring to a mixed-race player during a half-time team talk. The coach’s gaffe is believed to have upset a player in the dressing room…
The “jibe” went like this:
“Nasa decides to send a shuttle into space with two monkeys and an astronaut on board. After months of training, they put all three in the shuttle and prepare for launch. Mission control announces: ‘This is mission control to Monkey One. Do your stuff.’ The first monkey begins frantically typing and the shuttle takes off. Two hours later, mission control centre announces: ‘This is mission control to Monkey Two. Do your stuff.’ The second monkey starts typing like mad and the shuttle separates from its empty fuel tanks. After another two hours mission control announces: ‘This is mission control to astronaut…’ The astronaut interrupts, shouting: ‘I know, I know – feed the monkeys and don’t touch anything!'”
The Mail then quotes a man who understands more than anyone about race.
Piara Powar, executive director of European anti-discrimination group FARE, said: ‘Hodgson used a very silly term within a diverse team environment. He should know better.’
Rod Liddle sums up:
Let’s be clear: there are no excuses. I would strongly aver that using the word “monkey” in any context at all, and regardless of whether or not people of colour are in the vicinity, is deeply racist. And — I know what you’re going to say — perhaps especially if you are in charge of the monkey house at a zoo. Then I would say it is particularly incumbent upon you to use the phrase “gibbering, hairy creatures of which I am custodian” and not “monkeys”. Just in case.
He was only hairy creaturing around…
Posted: 20th, October 2013 | In: Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
