But in this instance do we really need a knowledge of culture outside Britain when it's happening in our country?
If an English player was in South America for example and it happened, there wouldn't be much in it. But you know as well as I do, that that isn't how things go in Britain. You can say they don't have to assimilate 100% to our culture, but they should try if it's going to risk offending people from our country, which it obviously has, hence the apology.
It came from Sky sports news, not a tabloid. People are going to complain, which they obviously did. You don't apologise when you've done nothing wrong.
In South Africa not too long ago it used to be OK to ...
In Germany 75 years ago, it was fine to say ...
No, cultural context in another country does not mean we should be fine about it in the UK. Do we really need to do the whole 100 rounds on this again.
You two are missing the point: Negro as a word came from the Spanish language. It's like telling us we can't use "white" because in South America, they decided to use it as a derogatory slang word against Caucasians. You're telling the guy not to speak his language and use a word that originated in a completely innocent way (it's a color). And used in that sense, it's a noun which is something we don't have in our English language.
The problem with us English folks is we have a superiority complex (much like in football) where we try to take the world's culture and look at it from our eyes. We associate the word "negro" as a derogatory term because our ancestors used it as slang. Spanish folks have used it for hundreds, if not thousands, of years without any problem until the English and Americans started using it.
He didn't say it in England properly (doubt he's even in England at the moment), he said it on a neutral online website. No one is offended and the only one who matters is Johnson and he doesn't care.
We try to translate it as meaning something horrible like "blacky" (and yes I used a juvenile derogatory word, I don't want to get in trouble). But in the Spanish language it doesn't translate like that when said in a friendly way. They also use the term "gordo" (fat) in an endearing way. They aren't making fun of their size, I've heard my wife say it to stick thin girls. It's just a nickname.
And again the word "negrito" is not just for black people but tanned people too.
Yes, you should respect a country when you're in it. But why are we still giving such power to a word in friendly instances? It's like Germans ignoring the name Hitler and Nazis and the swastika like it's all going to slip away from people's memories.
Suarez said his under different pretenses in a different way. This kid is just shouting out to a friend using a perfectly acceptable nickname to 80% of the world. Stop making it out to be some horrific use of the word. And if that's the absolute worse you've heard, you need to get out more and truly experience the world - good and bad.