Comments on: Welcome home, Mario Balotelli. Here’s some racism from your new club’s VP.

By: freddieoh

freddieoh — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 22:34:48 +0000

Hey “historian,” I hereby invite YOU to Fukuoka. Try being a honky racist in Japan.

For your own sake if not just for ours.

By: lcs4d

lcs4d — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 20:15:48 +0000

Being Italian born I understand that the Italian word “Negro” is considered a slur, whereas the word “Nero” is not considered a slur. Nero = Black.

By: redblackst

redblackst — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 19:46:49 +0000

according to google translate, “black” in italian is nero. Close to negro, but not n*****

By: 1historian

1historian — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 19:31:41 +0000

Rich;

Us white folks lost the monopoly on racism long ago.

If you vote AGAINST someone because of the color of his/her skin – this is racism.

And/but

If you vote FOR someone because of the color of his/her skin – this too is racism. (that means you Obama voters)

Prominent black racists – Andrew Young, Barack Obama, Al Sharpton.

Granted the “n word” is a vile word but ONLY for us whities. Black people use it all the time and I’d bet that every time they do most of them have a chuckle about how afraid they have made us white folks (honkies) about using it.

Try being black in Japan.

By: 1historian

1historian — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 19:26:50 +0000

Rich;

Us white folks lost the monopoly on racism long ago.

If you vote AGAINST someone because of the color of his skin – this is racism.

And

If you vote

By: charliej11

charliej11 — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 18:52:05 +0000

For all of those that think it is lost in translation. Maybe, maybe he just called him black. But he called him crazy in the next sentence, so even if he just called him black, which MB is, he was using it as a put down in my opinion, which is worse than using the N word. Black skin isn’t inferior, if you act like it is, then you are a racist. This guy DID act that way and his action IS racist.

By: njsurfchick

njsurfchick — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 17:32:29 +0000

The Berlusconi are inbred idiots….Paolo makes Silvio look like a genius. As for lost in translation, he shouldn’t refer to any player by the color of their skin, regardless of the language. Testa di cazzo…

By: crnelson10

crnelson10 — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:45:40 +0000

er, words not works.

By: crnelson10

crnelson10 — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:44:54 +0000

I’ve been wondering the same thing, and would like to hear from someone who speaks Italian about it. Being bilingual with Spanish as a second language, I’ve certainly come across a number of works that Latinos use for other ethnic groups that rubbed my American sensitivities the wrong way (i.e. “chino” for anyone of Asian heritage or “negro” for Africans), and seeing as Italian and Spanish are so closely related- I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the case.

That said, this guy comes across as a real douche bag either way.

By: drewvt6

drewvt6 — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:19:32 +0000

I’m pretty sure there’s some things lost in the translation. the connotation of the direct translation of the word that means black person is different in Italian. not that I am keen on defending the guy but I think it’s silly to go over the top in reacting to this.

By: socamr

socamr — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:50:55 +0000

If FIFA is really trying to stamp out racism, this should be an easy one: tell Milan they are banned from international competition until they fire Berlusconi. Serie A could step up too, but given the power of the Berlusconi family, I’m not holding my breath.

By: martysbetter

martysbetter — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:55:36 +0000

Is there some kind of cultural disconnect or something lost in translation here? I can’t help but feel like a man in his position would know better than to be so tactless in spewing this type of hate – did he drop THE N bomb or is it the Italian equivalent of “negro” (which isn’t many years past being a socially acceptable word to use in this country)?

For example, while in Brazil people referred to me as ‘Gringo’ – which would be considered a racial slur (to me) in this country, but is a term with no negative connotation attached to it in their country.

By: dfstell

dfstell — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:44:20 +0000

You know….there are two problems here. One is obviously that some people in Europe still have these horrible racist views. And it isn’t just limited to people of African descent either. Ask people from northern Europe how they feel about immigration and you’ll hear them say horrible things about Turks, Kurds, etc. Try to find any of them who don’t take shots and the Gypsies or people from Eastern Europe. Get Irish and Northern Irish going about each other or Scots going about the English. There’s just a lot of this crap bubbling in Europe.

The thing is, their society tolerates this crap. In the US, think of racist statements in sports…. There was the whole Rush Limbaugh thing with Donovan McNabb. What he said wasn’t nearly as bad as monkey chanting and it ended Rush’s sports career on the spot. Same thing with Jimmy the Greek….in fact, that’s all anyone remembers about Jimmy the Greek.

Until saying these kinds of things is a career-ender because everyone agrees it is disgusting, it’ll continue to happen.

By: korules

korules — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:34:22 +0000

@wfjackson3 ‘Europe’? Really? Way to generalize.

By: capsfan19

capsfan19 — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:16:27 +0000

This is disgusting. Berlusconis give italians a bad rap. Theyre white trash. It blows me away that people like this are in a position of power.
Ahh i hope balo keeps his chin up and plays for the fans. He’s so talented and just made a big move home.
Ahh this makes me so upset!

By: wfjackson3

wfjackson3 — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:15:26 +0000

Pathetic. Europe needs to stomp out this kind of behavior.