I consider myself a cool-headed guy. You could accidentally spill juice on my clothes, run over my big toe with your Buick, and hey, no biggie, I won’t get mad. But culturally insensitive actions, that’s a different beast and what grinds my gears.

Tevez Celebrates After Scoring

Manchester United, England’s pride and joy football team (depending who you ask), star striker Carlos Tevez decided it was a great idea to imitate the much controversial Asian slanted eye gesture from this summer’s Olympics after scoring a goal earlier this week. In the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Spanish Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams posed for a newspaper advertisement where each player pulled the side of their eyes back to imitate the stereotypical Asian slanted eye motion. The advertisement only showed in Spain, but received worldwide attention as a blatant insult to the Olympics’ Chinese hosts.

The Spanish team eventually issued a public apology, but for the most part, had no idea why what they did was wrong:

“We did it because we thought it was going to be something nice, something with no problem,” Calderon [Toronto Raptors Point Guard] told Yahoo! Sports. “But somebody wants to talk about it. It is too much of a big deal with you guys (the media) and everybody talking about that.”

Head coach Aíto García Reneses didn’t get it, either. Reneses comes from an older generation of Spanish society, one which has little time for the politically correct niceties of the modern world.

“If I go to play with a taller team and I put here (raising up on the tips of his toes) it is not an offense,” Reneses said. “I can’t understand anything more.”

But Gasol [Los Angeles Lakers Power Forward] got it. He didn’t get it when the Spanish courier company persuaded the players to pose with their index fingers stretching their eyes to a thin slit at a team media day, but he sure as heck gets it now.

“Some of us didn’t feel comfortable doing it just because to me it was a little clownish for our part to be doing that,” Gasol said. “But the sponsors insisted and insisted. I think it is just a bad idea I guess to do that, but it was never intended to be offensive or racist against anybody.

“I didn’t find it very funny. I didn’t find it offensive, either. I guess some guys didn’t mind. To me I don’t want to be that way, I guess, to be doing that stuff.

“If anybody feels offended by it we totally apologize for it. We never meant anything offensive by it.”

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/Story?id=5563668&page=1

Okay fine, sure, Spain doesn’t exactly see why certain acts are disrespectful, or maybe even racist, or that such acts creates any kind of offense whatsoever. I can see that. But is Spain some island isolated and sheltered from the world next to Easter island that has had no experience with any of this past millenia’s cultural clashes? Or is Spain the same country that in the same year, (1) launched Columbus’ voyage that eventually led to the annihilation of 95% of the world’s Native Americans, and (2), launched a 300-year religious inquisition within Spanish borders to seize wealth from Jews and Muslims. Yes Columbus and the Spanish Inquisition all started in the same year, 1492. Someone please explain to me of any unnecessary political niceties please.

Okay, I digress, and I apologise.

Since the Spanish Basketball team fiasco, less than a year passed and here we go again. Carlos Tevez, Argentina native and worldwide (I mean everywhere but America) star soccer player for whatever reason, thought it would be nice to revive the summer controversy. Tevez, in the past, has mentioned wanting to play for a Spain football club, perhaps thought the gesture was the proper homage to re-enforce his message to the Spaniards.

2008 Spain Men's Olympic Basketball Team

2008 Spain Women's Olympic Basketball Team

Well screw all that. I’m glad I’m an American, where our professional sports team don’t tolerate culturally insensitive indignation. Despite America’s past and what people may think, most parts of America are progressive and moving towards acceptance of all peoples no matter creed nor color. Sure America still maintains various forms of it’s racial past and racism is alive and well, but compared to the world, America is far ahead on the road of progress.

For one thing, the media, owners, and the public don’t tolerate insensitive actions from professional athletes. As the Brits and Europe paid little mind to Tevez’s gesture, we at least slap our players on the wrist. In March of 2001,  the Sacramento Kings visited the Golden State Warriors, a few Asian fans heckled Kings point guard Jason Williams to the point where he lashed back, shouting “Do you remember the Vietnam War? I’ll kill ya’ll just like that,” proceeding to simulate firing a machine gun.

The Sacramento Kings responded by fining Jason $15,000 and had him issue a public apology.