Jarrod Bowen under investigation for racist tweet

[OL29]

I think you are kind of ignoring the complete phrase encapsulated in the hashtag, I would agree that using that term is basically a complete no, but the phrase was constantly said as a 'thing' around that time, and earlier(in the 2000s). Not 100% sure of the origin, but I feel like it was from a Martin Lawrence film or something possibly. Not that it makes it completely ok, but I think it lessens its intent possibly, i.e. he's not just using the word, but basically parroting a joke of the time. He should just apologise for it, and that should be the end of it, in my opinion.

I’m not ignoring it, but I stand by the fact that the word itself it’s offensive and racist to a lot of people, regardless of intent.
I think people have this idea in their head that all black people run around greeting each other with that word, meaning people can just excuse the use of it as they didn’t mean to offend. That couldn’t be further from the truth, it may have been normalised in some aspects of Western culture, but the word itself is offensive regardless, and once used in a public domain, will always attract scrutiny.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

Who could be arsed being famous? I’m sure I said some pretty dumb things at 15.

Saying stuff and posting it are two totally different things. We’ve been living in an era where shit gets written down. It’s only in recent years that we’ve been trying to make kids aware of the consequences of posting your thoughts on social media.

It will most likely come back and haunt you

 

[NoLogo]

That one friend who is always causing drama.

#TwittaPlease

 

[saivet]

Perhaps considered so now, but as a kid only a few years older, 10 years ago it was common language in more deprived neighbourhoods. Amongst whites, blacks, and mixed groups.

I don't see the term as antagonistic or prejudiced in any way. Same as calling a guy "My N" wouldn't be racist. You don't say either term to upset people, nor to prejudice them. In mixed groups it was used equally towards whites, blacks, jews, asians, whatever. It may not be politically correct, but the reality was it was/is extremely commonplace and meant no offense. Nor was it taken with any.

I disagree with this. As a black person, when I was in secondary school over 10 years ago and seeing or hearing a non-black person use the n word regardless of intent, would always be offensive or at the very least make me uncomfortable. Maybe in some areas it was but I don't think that was the norm.

I don't see the point in punishing him now as it was so long ago, but for me, the use of the n-word has always been derogatory regardless of context.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

This is what is strange, though. He wasn't even a pro footballer when he did it, so why is any punishment going to be from the professional body?

I’ve no idea what’s going to happen mate.I don’t make the laws. I’m putting myself in the FA’s shoes right now. They could:
A) Take no action due to the age and date of post.
B) Slap on the wrist, warning etc.
C) Fine, ban whatever
The problem with option A is that in the current climate with Kick It Out, Say No To Racism, BLM, taking the knee etc and the criticism they will receive from BME sportspersons is that they can’t be seen to be letting it go that easily. BME sportspersons will see that as double standards

 

[UncleBob]

Cavani is a man in his mid 30s. Bowen was a kid and posted that a decade ago.

Big difference.

I disagree.

 

[FootyGirl88]

Are we really doing this??

 

[Ish]

Biggest surprise to me is that Twitter was around 9 years ago

 

[OL29]

Its a phrase which was used by a non-black person in a box office movie that grossed almost $600m. A movie which at the time of Bowen’s tweet had the biggest global box office opening gross ever for a comedy. I’d call a box office movie as in the public domain and seeing as it was incredibly successful it was also clearly deemed acceptable. In fact the movie even received some criticism for racial stereotypes of asians but nothing about that phrase.

It’s a phrase which has a long historical comedic presence and been used by the likes of Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle in popular skits. Google it and you’ll see it’s even a fairly popular meme. You seem to be trying to equate it to just calling black peoples the n-word, when it quite clearly isn’t the same thing.

What film was this out of interest?

As for the second paragraph, that’s what I’ve been trying to argue against in this thread, people can argue about intent until the cows come home, use of the word itself from non black people (except maybe in very particular cases) is widely considered offensive and racist. People can debate whether or not that’s fair, but I’m surprised that so many think it’s acceptable. It’s not up to me to decide if people can use it in a humorous way, but those same people shouldn’t act surprised that people find it offensive. It’s an abhorrent word, closely associated with oppression and abuse.

And comparing comedy sketches from Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock to what Bowen said is a false equivalence surely. Dave Chapelle still uses the word f*ggot, doesn’t make it acceptable, but comedians will always be given a little bit more leniency.

 

[Jordan_mufc]

It was 9 years ago, he was a child and what he said wasn't really that bad.

If he gets any sort of punishment for this it will be a joke.

"I was an idiot when I was a kid, I was trying to be funny, I'm embarrassed I did it and sorry" should be the end of this.

I mean it was quite bad mate. Unless racism is a standard in your daily life.

On the incident itself, it would be quite silly to punish him for something he said 9 years ago as a 15 year old.

 

[Jordan_mufc]

What film was this out of interest?

As for the second paragraph, that’s what I’ve been trying to argue against in this thread, people can argue about intent until the cows come home, use of the word itself from non black people (except maybe in very particular cases) is widely considered offensive and racist. People can debate whether or not that’s fair, but I’m surprised that so many think it’s acceptable. It’s not up to me to decide if people can use it in a humorous way, but those same people shouldn’t act surprised that people find it offensive. It’s an abhorrent word, closely associated with oppression and abuse.

And comparing comedy sketches from Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock to what Bowen said is a false equivalence surely. Dave Chapelle still uses the word f*ggot, doesn’t make it acceptable, but comedians will always be given a little bit more leniency.

I agree entirely with this. Anyone saying it is just a phrase from a movie is just looking for a reason to excuse what he said.

If it's such an innocuous phrase, walk into your workplace and belt it out loud; see how long it takes them to sack you.

 

[Shane88]

Biggest surprise to me is that Twitter was around 9 years ago

It's 15 years old this week.

 

[Conor]

I’m not ignoring it, but I stand by the fact that the word itself it’s offensive and racist to a lot of people, regardless of intent.
I think people have this idea in their head that all black people run around greeting each other with that word, meaning people can just excuse the use of it as they didn’t mean to offend. That couldn’t be further from the truth, it may have been normalised in some aspects of Western culture, but the word itself is offensive regardless, and once used in a public domain, will always attract scrutiny.

I certainly don't think that anyway, and I can completely understand not wanting to hear it in any capacity, I wouldn't either if I was black.

 

[OL29]

I agree entirely with this. Anyone saying it is just a phrase from a movie is just looking for a reason to excuse what he said.

If it's such an innocuous phrase, walk into your workplace and belt it out loud; see how long it takes them to sack you.

Exactly, I didn’t think this point would be seen as controversial

 

[Posh Red]

all the people getting on their high horses about it will most likely work in a much less ethnically and racially diverse field. I’m sure Bowen has many more friends from different backgrounds than your average person who starts making something out of this. He was a teenager chatting shit to a friend when nobody gave a feck about his Twitter. Big deal.

He went to the same school as my cousin. I’ll be honest it’s not a particularly diverse area Being involved in professional football from a young age though I suspect you may be right, as that would usually involve meeting/working with people from lots of different backgrounds.

 

[Posh Red]

Maybe I'm not well-versed enough in racial epithets and such, but what could be the word starting with W?

Reference to a child’s toy that was in fashion in the UK many years ago I suspect

 

[VanKenny]

Imagine if you had a good detective going trough everything and anything you have posted on the internet since you were a teen. How many of us WOULDNT be cancelled?


At some point we have to apply some critical thinking. Why are we doing this? Why is this even a discussion? Something he said 9 years ago that was on the obscure and forgotten parts of twitter affects todays world how?

If you are going to harshly judge someone for something he did or say in the past, then you should be ok with having somebody look trough your cellphone, computer, mails, etc. Otherwise that makes you a hypocrite.

 

[OL29]

I certainly don't think that anyway, and I can completely understand not wanting to hear it in any capacity, I wouldn't either if I was black.

Fair enough, and apologies if I misinterpreted you.

 

[lefty_jakobz]

Shocking!

15 year old has a brain fart and post something vile. Its hardly like it was directed at a person, he just used it as he thought he was being funny, which he wasn't.

No doubt he will be banned by the FA.

 

[Botim]

The tragic thing is that stirring a controversy over nonsense like this, plays right into the hands of those right wing twats complaining about cancel culture.

There's fighting injustice and then there's being an unreasonable zealot that hurts his own cause by going through life with a giant magnifying glass.

 

[Bale Bale Bale]

You can tell it's an international week.

 

[Ali Dia]

He went to the same school as my cousin. I’ll be honest it’s not a particularly diverse area Being involved in professional football from a young age though I suspect you may be right, as that would usually involve meeting/working with people from lots of different backgrounds.

 

[SER19]

The repercussions as you term them will be from his professional body and not a criminal offence. Let’s put it in perspective. A fine, warning or ban who knows but it isn’t going to prevent him from functioning in society

I didn't say they would be criminal though. Hes potentially going to be fined considerable money, with a material affect to his reputation and potential sponsors etc, over something he said as a 15 year old boy. Hopefully common sense sees that he isn't but it points again to a portion of society that seems to tolerate no human failing or error in any capacity, even that of a child. What absolutely perfectly virtuous lives these people must live

 

[Ish]

It's 15 years old this week.

Thanks Shane. Was half tongue in cheek as I’m not on any social media at the “ripe” age of 36 (soon to be 37 in 10 days ) but yeah, had no real clue of their age anyway.

 

[VorZakone]

"Under investigation" ? Really? A 15 year old saying something dumb on Twitter? Make him apologize and just move on.

Christ.

 

[Vidyoyo]

Somewhere out there there's a book I haven't read describing the then-nascent forms of emerging computer mediated communication and the relatively naive mindset of early adopters at a time where it wasn't obvious they'd grow into gargatuans of networked technologies and meant fifteen year olds were held up to laughably high intellectual and moral standards.

And I bet Bowen won't have read it either, the pleb.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Dumb thing to say on a public forum. Don't think he had racist intent though.

 

[Irrational.]

“Well done, he’s 13.”

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

It’s obviously not cool. But I must have said ‘N1gga Please’ (or a close variation of) hundreds, if not thousands of times. Granted, every utterance was confined to a period when I was 18-23. Living and hanging out with friends in Edmonton/Tottenham. I was one of two white guys in a sprawling group of 20-30 people that were not. Playing football, days long Pro Evo tournies. It was not an inflammatory word. At all.

The idea that simply looking at a word or phrase, removing all context, and judging it... it’s insane.

I’ve moved in circles where N1gga was a word as common as any other. But in The same way I know to not swear in front of my white, conservative school teacher of a mother, I knew it couldn’t be throw around as if I liked the taste of it.

The internet propping up a global all-encompassing approach to this shit is exhausting. I hope the fella isn’t punished for the fact he was a naive little sh1t for a while.

 

[Chipper]

Maybe I'm not well-versed enough in racial epithets and such, but what could be the word starting with W?

Reference to a child’s toy that was in fashion in the UK many years ago I suspect

I was thinking the N word but starting with a W. Common derogatory slang word for white guys who adopt black culture.

 

[calodo2003]

Get rid of social media. It has already reached its peak of worthiness & will just keep trending negatively.
It would keep instances like this from ever occurring, an immature statement from virtually a different decade coming back to harm someone.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

While this case is mad, at least it is a word that was still deemed a racist/risque word back then.

The more worrying thing is the idea that something you say in an age where it's acceptable, can be used against you as being a hate crime decades later.

The way society is going, with "good" being twisted as being bad, and everyone having to tiptoe about every little word potentially being offensive to a certain group, it's inevitable this will continue to stuff we wouldn't give a second thought to now, like saying someone is a "fatty".

Yeh I agree. It’s a tough one but on the whole I really don’t agree with judging people by the modern standards of today. Obviously that isn’t always applicable and some people would be cnuts in any era of history but some were simply living by the thought process of that time.

What’s more relevant in this case is the fact he said it as a kid and even then it would hardly have been deemed offensive at the time. I can’t believe that all footballers haven’t been through their social media at this point though and deleted everything.

 

[Spaghetti]

Don't they teach grammar in UK schools?

No, grammar schools were abolished about 40 years ago.

Even still, there are people everywhere who make grammatical mistakes in their own language.

 

[Spaghetti]

Maybe I'm not well-versed enough in racial epithets and such, but what could be the word starting with W?

The same word, but starting with a W instead of an N. It’s for “white people who think they are black”, hence the W.

 

[OL29]

Yeh I agree. It’s a tough one but on the whole I really don’t agree with judging people by the modern standards of today. Obviously that isn’t always applicable and some people would be cnuts in any era of history but some were simply living by the thought process of that time.

What’s more relevant in this case is the fact he said it as a kid and even then it would hardly have been deemed offensive at the time. I can’t believe that all footballers haven’t been through their social media at this point though and deleted everything.

Says who?

 

[Sandikan]

Yeh I agree. It’s a tough one but on the whole I really don’t agree with judging people by the modern standards of today. Obviously that isn’t always applicable and some people would be cnuts in any era of history but some were simply living by the thought process of that time.

What’s more relevant in this case is the fact he said it as a kid and even then it would hardly have been deemed offensive at the time. I can’t believe that all footballers haven’t been through their social media at this point though and deleted everything.

I don't understand why any high profile footballer bothers with twitter/facebook outside of letting their "media team" run it to be honest.

Football is so horribly tribal, that at best you'll just have to sift through 1,000s of posts of abuse, and at worst you'll invite getting a ban/fine by occasionally saying something wrong.
Unless you stick to the Michael Owen "I don't like films" approach.

 

[Sandikan]

No, grammar schools were abolished about 40 years ago.

What?

 

[Chipper]

No, grammar schools were abolished about 40 years ago.

Even still, there are people everywhere who make grammatical mistakes in their own language.

Still have them in a few places. Since most of us here are United fans, they exist in Trafford where United are based as one example. I went to one, not that it shows.

 

[Spaghetti]

What?

Grammar schools were abolished in the 1970s I think, as schools went into the comprehensive style. Apparently some still exist but they must be few and far between.

As a general school rule though, grammar is not taught in the UK.

 

[simonhch]

“Well done, he’s 13.”

Underrated comment.

I am assuming this is a Southall/Owen reference.