Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 11:50:09 -0500
From: Shekhar Krishnan <shekhar-AT-mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: World Cup


Friends --

Did anyone hear the ESPN2 commentary on last week's Nigeria-Denmark match?
The commentators has quoted the top Nigerian player as saying the game was
being played not only for his country, but for all of Africa and "black
pride." As Denmark began to score, they calmly and sickeningly alluded to
how football is the province of European or Latin American (read
European-mixed) teams, mentioning "Northern European blood" and how
Africans could just never quite make it to the calibre of European teams.
When Denmark finally won, there were some slanderous remarks made about the
status of black pride.

I have noticed that the British commentators are much more oblique in their
references to Asian and African mediocrity -- the Arab referee of
yesterday's Brazil-Holland match was of course inadequate, but the British
commentator made much more of this on the basis of his national origin --
than the Americans.

There is much going on racially and nationally in these matches, and it
would be interesting to rake the texts of the transcripts for more of these
remarks.



Shekhar

_____

Shekhar Krishnan
1305, Potomac Street, NW
Apt.204
Washington, DC 20007
U.S.A.

School of Oriental & African Studies
University of London
Centre for South Asian Area Studies
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG
U.K.




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