Open Mouth. Insert Foot.

[SyrBlackwolff]

It just never ceases to amaze me how so called educated, intellegent people can be so igronrant...... shaking my head!!!

[Kobi]

G Jeremy Lin ESPN was offered an apology by ESPN for its use of an "offensive headline referencing him and the New York Knicks early Saturday morning.

The headline, used on the media outlet's mobile website, contained a racial slur as it described the Knicks' point guard and the team ending their winning streak against the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night.

The headline read "Chink in the Armor" and was up on the mobile site, which is seen on cell phones and tablets, for about a half-hour, according to ESPN. Lin, whose parents are Taiwanese, is the league's first American-Born player of Taiwanese or Chinese descent.

He had helped the Knicks to the seven-game winning streak, sparking a national sensation playfully known as "Linsanity."

ESPN posted an apology on all Knicks' stories on its website Saturday. It read: "Last night, ESPN.com's mobile website posted an offensive headline referencing Jeremy Lin at 2:30 a.m. ET. The headline was removed at 3:05 a.m. We are conducting a complete review of our cross-platform editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary action to ensure this does not happen again. We regret and apologize for this mistake."

[Kobi]

Et tu, Ben & Jerry? The Vermont ice cream manufacturer have had second thoughts about a new flavor of frozen yogurt available at their Harvard franchise called Taste the Lin-Sanity. Why? Because initial batches of the Jeremy Lin-themed frozen dessert featured "pieces of fortune cookie," sfgate.com reports. Those have since been replaced with waffle pieces, a decision Ryan Midden, Ben & Jerry's general manager for their Boston and Cambridge outlets, insists was made because waffle pieces retain their crisp better. Midden does acknowledge, however, that some customers took offense at the implied racism.

Taste the Lin-Sanity's vanilla frozen yogurt also contains "lychee honey swirls," a decadent addition derived from the succulent fruit indigenous to southern China and Southeast Asia. So far, no one seems to have taken offense at that slightly subtler ethnic reference.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/enter...-flavor/49165/

[Kobi]

On the March 2012 cover of FHM Philippines, the country’s top-selling men’s mag, a light-skinned model emerges from a group of black models accompanied by the caption, “Stepping Out of the Shadows.”

According to the New York Times, the photo of swimsuit-clad Filipino actress Bela Padilla immediately met backlash from readers and social media users who argue the photo is racist and insensitive. “Seriously, did you guys not sense how racist this concept was?” writes one user on the magazine’s Facebook page.

The outrage prompted local publisher Summit Media to issue an apology, scrap the edition and promise to print a new cover featuring Padilla. “In our pursuit to come up with edgier covers, we will strive to be more sensitive,” the company, which publishes more than 20 magazines in the Philippines, wrote in its statement.

Just hours after the cover ran, Filipino Victor Bautista launched an online petition on Change.org calling for Summit to apologize for and recall the cover, ABS-CBN News reports. “People of African descent have been unjustly stigmatized as embodying darkness, ever since the era of slave trading. The cover is a modern rendition of a regressive form of discrimination, and should thus be brought to utmost scrutiny, in a day and age wherein racial equality should be universal,” he wrote.

The BBC caught up with Padilla for an interview, where she said she did not have any regrets about the photo shoot. “So they wanted me to come into a ‘coming-of-age’ sort of article — that’s why they chose that caption,’’ she told the BBC. She said some of the models in the photo included light-skinned women painted black. “Some people might think that it’s even more offensive that some people in that shoot were Filipinas who were painted black,” replied reporter Mishal Husain.

The ad sparked debate on social media and news sites. “It is said that this is about Bela emerging from her ‘inhibitions.’ But pray tell, why would a white girl’s inhibitions appear as a bevy of black girls? Why pit one woman’s white body against five women’s black bodies? Why highlight one at the expense of the others?’’ Katrina Stuart Santiago wrote in an opinion piece for GMA News Online, a news outlet in the Philippines. Why indeed?



Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/03/01/...#ixzz1nrao24vI

[Kobi]

The first American-born player of Taiwanese descent in the NBA, Lin’s race has caused just as much chatter as his game-winning three pointers. And this is not a new thing for him. According to TIME’s cover story this week, the 23-year-old has had to overcome ethnic slur throughout his career. When Lin entered a gym for summer-league in high school someone dismissed him, saying he was in the wrong place for volleyball. While he played at Harvard, rival teams were the quickest to pass harsh slurs his way. During a game against Georgetown in Washington, a spectator yelled “Sweet-and-sour pork!” from the stands.

But the star’s success has helped him challenge racial stereotypes. Many Asian Americans are passionate about basketball, including Lin’s father, Gie-Ming Lin. When Lin’s father emigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan in 1977, he fell in love with basketball From an early age, Lin’s father has encouraged his son to make time for the game, taking him to the local YMCA to drill and watch recorded NBA games.

With Linspiration sweeping the globe, who knows what the future holds for basketball players of Asian descent? NewsFeed hopes the Linsanity will at least curb offensive signs like this.



Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/02/17/...#ixzz1nrd3X17A



After that news feed, I didnt expect the next article on the same page of the same site to say this:


MORE: Linsanity! Jeremy Lin Recolors the Culture of Basketball

[Kobi]

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, Nike released its SB “Black and Tan” sneakers, a nod to the popular beverage made from mixing stout and pale ale. What the company didn’t realize: the name is also deeply offensive to Irish people. It refers to a brutal British paramilitary unit sent to suppress Irish revolutionaries in the early 1920s. In Ireland, the “Black and Tans” are still widely associated with merciless mistreatment of civilians.

The name would be the equivalent of calling a sneaker the “Al Qaeda” in the U.S., Ciaran Staunton, president of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, told IrishCentral.com. Backlash ensued, and Nike offered a a swift apology for unintentionally upsetting the Irish people. It was a complete accident, of course, but it does make you wonder why nobody over at Nike’s headquarters knows how to use the ol’ Google machine.

One advertisement for the $90 sneaker reads: “Tis the season for Irish beer and why not celebrate with Nike. The Black and Tan sneaker takes inspiration for the fine balancing act of a Stout (Guinness) on top a Pale Ale (Harp) in a pint glass.” Nike officials told Fox News that the sneakers had been “unofficially named by some” and were officially dubbed the Nike SB Dunk Low.

Nike’s marketing crew must have been unaware of a very similar product-naming gaffe that caught Irish ire a few years back. Ben & Jerry’s, often lauded for its social awareness, released a “Black and Tan” ice cream in 2006, also unfamiliar with the name’s implications. No apology-flavored follow-up ice cream was ever released, but there’s still time for a limited edition release of some top-notch We’re Sorry We Messed Up kicks.


Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/03/15/...#ixzz1pPVvZxeI

[Kobi]

Members of the University of Southern Mississippi band chanted racist taunts at a hispanic Kansas State player during the schools' NCAA tournament game on Thursday.

After point guard Angel Rodriguez was fouled late in the first half of the second-round game, a few band members showered the freshman with cries of "where's your green card?"

The chant and those who participated don't warrant any civilized dialogue. Both are an embarrassment to the university.

Southern Miss president Martha Saunders quickly apologized for the incident.

"We deeply regret the remarks made by a few students at today's game," she wrote in a statement issued two hours after the game. "The words of these individuals do not represent the sentiments of our pep band, athletic department or university. We apologize to Mr. Rodriquez (sic) and will take quick and appropriate disciplinary action against the students involved in this isolated incident.


As if things could get any more ignorant, the basis for the band's racism was itself misguided. Rodriguez was born in Puerto Rico, a commonwealth of the United States. Even if he hadn't grown up in Miami and starred for a high school basketball team in that city, he'd still be an American citizen and have no need for a green card. Ignorant ignorance; it's the best kind.

Rodriguez and K-State had the last laugh. The Wildcats defeated Southern Miss, 70-64.

---------------------

USM president Martha Saunders announced Tuesday that five band members have had their scholarships revoked, have been removed from the band and will have to complete a two-hour cultural sensitivity training course this week. None of the names of the band members were revealed.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-...205326741.html