Is Luis Suarez’s 8 Game Ban For Racially Abusing Evra Justified?

Published December 21, 2011 | By Rolly

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has been banned for 8 games and fined £40,000 for racially abusing Patrice Evra and In The Stands’ Rolly Pelovangu pulls no punches in debating the FA decision.

‘Negrito’. That is the word allegedly in contention following Luis Suarez’s eight game ban after racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra during Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Anfield back in September.

Most onlookers will be able to recall the second half confrontation between both Suarez and Evra which occurred in the United box. Although seemingly innocuous at the time, after the match, Evra was quick to report that he had been racially abused by the Liverpool number 7.

Of course such allegations are, were and must be taken very seriously and a resolute Patrice Evra refused to back down despite receiving little support from his team-mates – none of whom claimed to have heard the disputed word.

Videos soon followed and Suarez was caught red-handed ushering the word ‘Negrito’ over, and over, and over again. Ten times to be precise.

Is The Word ‘Negrito’ Racist?

Is the word ‘negrito’ really that bad when taken into context? The question must be asked. Translated literally, ‘negrito’ means ‘little black man’. Sure, not offensive when read literally, however, it is the manner in which Suarez said it which grates.

“In Uruguay ‘Negrito’ is a nickname for someone whose skin is darker than the rest,” Uruguay legend Gus Poyet said in defense of his fellow countryman.

“It is not offensive. Such people are part of our society. We will defend them, go to war with them, share everything with them, and at the same time use that word.”

“But I do understand that in England the word is used differently, so we have to pay attention how we use it. We need to adapt. Do we as foreigners need to adapt more to England than England to us?”

“Yes, of course. That’s common sense. I know things Luis Suarez does not know because I have been here 14 years. So let’s use common sense and give the kid a chance,” he added.

In the words of Mandy Rice-Davies, he would (say that) wouldn’t he? Would Poyet have been so nakedly defending Suarez if the Liverpool striker had have called Evra a ‘N*****?’ Doubt it.

To repeat the word ten times as seen on camera points to a more sinister take to it by Suarez. Remember this is the same Luis Suarez who famously and dreadfully cheated Ghana and the entire African continent of a place in the World Cup semi-final.

It is the same Luis Suarez who bit PSV Eindhoven midfielder Otman Bakkal when playing for Ajax, and who has also shamelessly earned himself a reputation for diving.

The fact that Suarez had a black grandfather means nothing. Only the here-and-know matters and anybody who has actually been to Uruguay will know that black people are treated as second-class citizens.

They rank amongst the poorest of the poor, never on par with the indigenous white population due to their darker skin. Even Uruguay’s flying wingback Álvaro Pereira is rather disgustingly nicknamed ‘el mono’, that is ‘the monkey’ in English.

So surrounded by such dubious means of characterizing other people not of his race, perhaps Suarez’s racism arose more out of ignorance as opposed to raw, racist cynicism.

Still, the punishment was necessary if only to set an example and a precedent. In football opposing players will do anything and try no matter what to get one over their marker, defender or opposite number. These range from insulting mothers, trash-talking sisters (remember Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materrazzi), as well as tugging shirts.

However, the line is drawn when race or God-forbid religion, creed or colour comes into it. Had Suarez kept insults general and, for example, called Evra a ‘short, smelly, garlic-eating French twat’, little would have been done. The fact that Suarez took things immediately to Evra’s skin colour makes things much more worse.

In Suarez’s defense, the word ‘negrito’ does not carry as much hurt or power as the word ‘N*****’ does – which if said by any other person not of black origin to a black person is pure racist.

Yes, black people call each other ‘N****s’ all the time – more so in America, but that comes with a subconscious and mutual understanding that the word ‘Nigga’ differs from the word ‘Nigger’.

Were somebody say, from Peckham, or one of Rio Ferdinands’ close friends to refer to him as a ‘Nigga’, it would not phase him as gangsta rap and Hip-Hop has done much to decontextualize and ‘soften’ the word to the point where the black man uses it to empower and emphasize the subject of the discussion.

The video/song above by US rapper Waka Flocka Flame which is entitled, ‘Hard In Da Paint’, is a case in point. It is an absolute club banger and despite the fact that the N-word is said no less than 26 times, by using the word, Waka Flocka Flame potentizes the track to make it feel much more like a bass-thumping Hip-Hop banger.

No black person will feel offended by the lyrics in ‘Hard In Da Paint’ but had Suarez sung it, it would then become a problem.

In light of this, Suarez’s comments to Evra – ‘Negrito’ – when taken into context do not so much scream of racism, rather a nasty ignorance which borders on racist and, of course, fuelled by Suarez’s desire to get one over the United defender on the pitch. There is a marked difference.

Posted in Discussion, Featured, Opinion | Tagged Luis Suarez, luis suarez 8 game ban, luis suarez bit otman bakkal, luis suarez liverpool, Luis suarez negrito, luis suarez negro, luis suarez Patrice evra ban, luis suarez Patrice evra video, luis suarez racial abuse evra

factcheck

They call Maxi Pereira “Mono,” not Palito Pereira. Maxi is white.
Peter

Why is this allowed to be published? There is no video evidence and no credible contention that Suarez repeated “negrito” 10 times. He said it once, and the only evidence is that he freely admitted it — not a single other player on the pitch, including Evra’s teammates, heard the one remark, let alone 10. For Suarez to say it once was bad enough, but for a writer to promote the lie that it was said 10 times is outrageous and uncessarily inflammatory. Suarez admitted it because he didn’t find it so bad, in the same way Javier Hernandez didn’t find it so bad to refer to his teammate in Mexico as “negrito”. Now he knows and won’t do it again. Does Evra know that it was just as wrong to refer to Suarez’s Latin American ethnicity in the comments he made — just because Suarez chose not to complain about it doesn’t mean that the FA should ignore it. I’m not even a Liverpool supporter, but I’m with the Liverpool players on this — they are the ones who know him best.
Fantasy Premier League Hints

Suarez’s ban would be a big loss for Liverpool and FPL gamers (that selected him) alike. I can’t see Carroll and Bellamy gelling. Perhaps Liverpool may dip into the loan market during the transfer window?
Anonymous

Your article starts off well but degenerates into yet another biased denunciation of the football player Luis Suarez. What could be an intelligent debate about differences in language and culture online and in the national press has turned into a tirade of contradictory or unfounded attacks of racism against a Liverpool player. You will be hard pushed to find such derogatory articles about John Terry or any white English player. The only real discrimination I can see here is one that goes against the richness of a South American language and it’s culture. Whether you are ‘negro’ or ‘branco’ or any of the multitude of shades in between, all people should be allowed to embrace the richness and language of their culture. There is only one race – the human race.
alvaro

Hola desde españa! I have to say that some artists in latin america even call themselves negro, like Horacio “el Negro” Hernandez, El Negro Zumbon,etc there was a icecream here also called negrito…until everybody start taking life too seriously
Anti-racista

The context in which Negrito was used was definitely racist. In Latin American there is much undiscussed racism , how many black politicians or black middle class do we see there ? Unfortunately the black people themselves seem to accept this racist language. I’ve never heard anyone say blanco or blanquito.
AngloCeleste

This might just be one of the worst pieces of “journalism” I have ever come across and was obviously written by someone who already had a strong dislike for Suarez before this whole sorry episode erupted.
It is lazily written and piled high with fallacy after fallacy. As someone has already pointed out it isn’t Palito that is referred to as “el mono” it is Maxi, his white teammate. Nor was the word that Suarez admitted using “negrito” but the far less loaded “negro”. This article is just one embellished lie after another and the “journalist” has fed those lies by proclaiming the existence of video footage!

On another note the indigenous population of Uruguay is not its white population and to be perfectly honest I’m not sure you’ve ever been to Uruguay let alone have the right to say how things are there. My mother is from Uruguay and I have spent plenty of time in Montevideo playing football with Black Uruguayans none of whom would ever agree that they are treated as second class citizens. There is most certainly room for improvement but that doesn’t mean you need to proclaim ignorant inanities and baseless “facts” in a public forum.