Jarrod Bowen under investigation for racist tweet

[Martial'sEmergingSmile]

surely one of the first jobs of any football agent nowadays is to scroll back through old tweets and delete the bad stuff?

Quite literally the first thing we do as PR agents is to think of every possible "cancellable" word and do a Twitter search for 'TwitterName: Word' and delete anything you find. On our shared network at work we have a Word document with every slur you could imagine to make the job easier.

On old accounts - like Bowen's - before the Internet was corporatised and sanatised, it's almost a guarantee that you're going to find some wild shit. People used Twitter like they were talking with their friends.

Reading old tweets from footballers and NBA players is hilarious...Unfortunately (well, fortunately for my continued employment) we're never getting that level of personal interaction back. Basically zero sportspeople handle their own social media now...from megastars to West Brom bench players.

Give me Rooney's "i'll put u asleep within 10 second u little girl. don't say stuff and not follow up. i'll be waiting" over "Big 3 points today. One for the fans. We go again. (Strong Arm emojii)", "Not the result we wanted today. Supporters deserve better. We go again. (Strong Arm emojii)" any day.

 

[OL29]

did you never play an online video game in 2012?

Nope

 

[Zaphod2319]

2012 is the very recent past, and white dudes dropping N-bombs was just as unacceptable then as it is now.

It really wasn’t and that is the point. Using that phrase back then was both sarcastic and at times a term of endearment, regardless of the race of the speaker. It was known by all parties there was no malice in its use. The cultural norms were different. They can completely change in less than five years.

 

[matherto]

The thing I don't get with the argument over his age and being a stupid kid is why is a stupid kid still saying the N word?

Even if you accept that he didn't have a clue about becoming a professional footballer like he is now and it's wrong to go after a kid for tweeting something when he was younger, he's still tweeted the N word and clearly wasn't afraid of using it back then, so why did he think it was okay as a kid?

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

The thing I don't get with the argument over his age and being a stupid kid is why is a stupid kid still saying the N word?

Even if you accept that he didn't have a clue about becoming a professional footballer like he is now and it's wrong to go after a kid for tweeting something when he was younger, he's still tweeted the N word and clearly wasn't afraid of using it back then, so why did he think it was okay as a kid?

Because.... he was a kid. Kids are not adults.

 

[matherto]

Because.... he was a kid. Kids are not adults.

But even kids are taught that saying the N word is a no-go.

 

[mu4c_20le]

2012 is the very recent past, and white dudes dropping N-bombs was just as unacceptable then as it is now.

Well that obviously isn't true, as it didn't trigger as much of a reaction as it does now. Also, the N word was never 'acceptable' regardless of whoever it came from, it was more often used as a term of endearment between friends. Hence, stupid to put it in the public (unless to look cool).

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

But even kids are taught that saying the N word is a no-go.

Are you honestly going to pretend you’ve never done or said anything wrong?

 

[rhajdu]

surely one of the first jobs of any football agent nowadays is to scroll back through old tweets and delete the bad stuff?

In the same year Sacho Baron Cohen was the Outstanding Achievement to Comedy winner in the British Comedy Awards and he gave a speech as Ali G. The Offspring just uploaded to YouTube their Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) 4 years ago. Times are changing, I guess.

The Tunnock's teacake is called the N-word's Kiss in my country (as well as in many South American countries - Cavani says "hi", I guess). We also have a cake which is called the N-word cube due to it's form and colour. We also have a candy which is called Negro (EDIT: that's the official name, which can be checked on Wikipedia, that's why I typed in).

 

[Tiber]

Wonder how many detentions he got at school?

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

In the same year Sacho Baron Cohen was the Outstanding Achievement to Comedy winner in the British Comedy Awards and he gave a speech as Ali G. The Offspring just uploaded to YouTube their Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) 4 years ago. Times are changing, I guess.

The Tunnock's teacake is called the N-word's Kiss in my country (as well as in many South American countries - Cavani says "hi", I guess). We also have a cake which is called the N-word cube due to it's form and colour. We also have a candy which is called Negro.

Ali G was a parody of white kids ‘Acting Black’ and was brilliant because it made fun of the absurdity of the whole thing.

No idea where your country is, or why they use those terms. Nor why you mention Cavani.

But Ali G shouldn’t need explaining.

 

[Cast5]

Ali G was a parody of white kids ‘Acting Black’ and was brilliant because it made fun of the absurdity of the whole thing.

No idea where your country is, or why they use those terms. Nor why you mention Cavani.

But Ali G shouldn’t need explaining.

Iz it cos I is black?

 

[rhajdu]

Ali G was a parody of white kids ‘Acting Black’ and was brilliant because it made fun of the absurdity of the whole thing.

No idea where your country is, or why they use those terms. Nor why you mention Cavani.

But Ali G shouldn’t need explaining.

As you said, he was a parody of white kids 'Acting Black'. The Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) is also a parody. Jarrod Bowen also reffered to those white kids 'Acting Black' with the name of that subculture. Do you know what would be the appropriate word to name that group of youngsters?

By the way, I'm from Hungary. So it is in Europe. I mentioned Cavani, because he was punished for using his native language (e.g. the mentioned treat is called Beso De Negro in many South American countries). Jarrod Bowen might be punished for a word which describes a phenomenom which was widely parodized in the same period.

 

[matherto]

Are you honestly going to pretend you’ve never done or said anything wrong?

No but I think even as a kid tweeting the N word is more than serious enough. There are some things even the dimmest of kids just don't do and that's one of them, so it speaks to who he was and his upbringing.

 

[OL29]

I promise you that a 15 year old would not have been pulled up for saying that 9 years ago. 15 year olds did not have status then, and they shouldn’t now.

I’m speaking hypothetically, if he was a grown man and professional footballer as he is today. I’m not advocating for him to be punished now.

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

No but I think even as a kid tweeting the N word is more than serious enough. There are some things even the dimmest of kids just don't do and that's one of them, so it speaks to who he was and his upbringing.

As. A. 15 year old. 9 years ago.

I stole things when I was 16. Took something that wasn’t mine, from a business. Just because. I was wrong. I’d also put that action as worse than using a word.

You’re dying on a really weird hill mate.

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

I’m speaking hypothetically, if he was a grown man and professional footballer as he is today. I’m not advocating for him to be punished now.

Ok. Misunderstood.

 

[Halftrack]

It really wasn’t and that is the point. Using that phrase back then was both sarcastic and at times a term of endearment, regardless of the race of the speaker. It was known by all parties there was no malice in its use. The cultural norms were different. They can completely change in less than five years.

It was, though? White people deciding they were allowed to use it doesn't really change that.

Well that obviously isn't true, as it didn't trigger as much of a reaction as it does now. Also, the N word was never 'acceptable' regardless of whoever it came from, it was more often used as a term of endearment between friends. Hence, stupid to put it in the public (unless to look cool).

Racial equality is even higher on the agenda today, and people have become a lot better at calling out ignorant idiots and malicious assholes for their behavior.

 

[Cast5]

It was, though? White people deciding they were allowed to use it doesn't really change that.

Racial equality is even higher on the agenda today, and people have become a lot better at calling out ignorant idiots and malicious assholes for their behavior.

I hope you never said anything wrong when you were a teenager.

 

[Halftrack]

I hope you never said anything wrong when you were a teenager.

I said plenty of dumb shit as a teenager, including using offensive terms and slurs as insults. You'll note, though, that I haven't said anything about whether or not he should be punished, just pointed out that the idea that it was okay for white people to use the N-word in 2012 is ridiculous and wrong.

 

[OL29]

It really wasn’t and that is the point. Using that phrase back then was both sarcastic and at times a term of endearment, regardless of the race of the speaker. It was known by all parties there was no malice in its use. The cultural norms were different. They can completely change in less than five years.

 

[Cast5]

I said plenty of dumb shit as a teenager, including using offensive terms and slurs as insults. You'll note, though, that I haven't said anything about whether or not he should be punished, just pointed out that the idea that it was okay for white people to use the N-word in 2012 is ridiculous and wrong.

Fair enough mate

 

[Tapori]

How old is 15 really?

 

[Norman Brownbutter]

Nope

then that will by why youre asking that question. Calling people “n***a” was common place amongst kids and teens in 2012. As was “that’s gay” and ”I fecked your mum last night”.

I remember walking into a mall in Virginia in 2006. Outside were a bunch of kids, mostly white. Everyone one of them screaming ”n***a” and “n****r” at each other. They clearly thought it was cool.

Kids are dumb. Even when they know words are bad, they often don’t fully grasp the weight of why. Hell, a lot of adults today still dont grasp why “n****r” is such a bad word.

 

[calodo2003]

N*gg*r & its variants were known by all parties to not cause malice in 2012.

What the feck here?

 

[OL29]

then that will by why youre asking that question. Calling people “n***a” was common place amongst kids and teens in 2012. As was “that’s gay” and ”I fecked your mum last night”.

I remember walking into a mall in Virginia in 2006. Outside were a bunch of kids, mostly white. Everyone one of them screaming ”n***a” and “n****r” at each other. They clearly thought it was cool.

Kids are dumb. Even when they know words are bad, they often don’t fully grasp the weight of why. Hell, a lot of adults today still dont grasp why “n****r” is such a bad word.

As proven in this thread, evidently.

 

[Ladron de redcafe]

As you said, he was a parody of white kids 'Acting Black'. The Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) is also a parody. Jarrod Bowen also reffered to those white kids 'Acting Black' with the name of that subculture. Do you know what would be the appropriate word to name that group of youngsters?

By the way, I'm from Hungary. So it is in Europe. I mentioned Cavani, because he was punished for using his native language (e.g. the mentioned treat is called Beso De Negro in many South American countries). Jarrod Bowen might be punished for a word which describes a phenomenom which was widely parodized in the same period.

You have to be careful with your translations here. You mentioned earlier that this is called the "n'ers kiss". That isn't how this is translated. This roughly means "Kiss of black" or "black kiss".

What you're unwittingly doing is arguing that it's alright to use the n and citing a dessert which you think was labelled after the n-word, when it isn't. Negro means 'black' in Spanish. The fact that a myriad of things are labelled negro in that culture doesn't mean that the N word was normalized and anything but malicious.

 

[Halftrack]

then that will by why youre asking that question. Calling people “n***a” was common place amongst kids and teens in 2012. As was “that’s gay” and ”I fecked your mum last night”.

There's a pretty big difference between "idiot kids being edgy/ignorant" and socially acceptable. Some shitkid in COD calling you a n****r was expected, but it sure as shit wasn't socially acceptable.

 

[Lord SInister]

I wonder what kind of shit storm will hit the western social media, when they will know about the usage of nibba/nibbi in Indian social media.

 

[Norman Brownbutter]

There's a pretty big difference between "idiot kids being edgy/ignorant" and socially acceptable. Some shitkid in COD calling you a n****r was expected, but it sure as shit wasn't socially acceptable.

I never argued it was socially acceptable. But I would argue that kids didnt really understand the full weight of the word, and would use it in their own little corner of social interaction. Perhaps not as readily as some other words, but used without batting an eye none the less. They saw the word as just another name to call someone. The fact the word is the last thing a lot of people heard before they were hung, beaten, burned, raped and god knows what else never enters into when youre young and dumb.

 

[Raredaredevil]

What is racist about this tweet?

 

[Tarrou]

What is racist about this tweet?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigger

 

[Raredaredevil]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigger

Thanks. My Nigerian friend keeps using this word as an affectionate way for our friendship even though I am not black. Hey my n*****, I've felt a bit uneasy because he was expecting me to reply back to him with that word. He felt it is just a word and it doesn't mean anything because this world has become too politically correct.

 

[duffer]

Wait, was the first letter of his hashtag a W or an N?

 

[Halftrack]

I never argued it was socially acceptable. But I would argue that kids didnt really understand the full weight of the word, and would use it in their own little corner of social interaction. Perhaps not as readily as some other words, but used without batting an eye none the less. They saw the word as just another name to call someone. The fact the word is the last thing a lot of people heard before they were hung, beaten, burned, raped and god knows what else never enters into when youre young and dumb.

@OL29 asked if the N-word was socially acceptable in 2012, and you responded by asking him if he never played video games, which (in conjunction with your next post) would seem to imply that you were arguing that people being edgy dicks online is equatable to social acceptance. But fair enough, I see what you're saying.

 

[Spaghetti]

Just cos you think you talk better grammar than what others do, don’t mean they don’t get teached it.

Perhaps you did at your posh grammar school, but normal schools don’t teach grammar! I bet your school even had a Latin slogan!

You can learn to speak properly without learning grammar. All children learn to talk before they are capable of understanding grammatical structures. The reason grammar teaching might come back is to facilitate the learning of other languages for native English speakers.

I just don't understand why you have a discussion about grammar schools. Many of these schools might require applicants to take an admission test, but that is all. The grammar schools are not specialized to teach English grammar. So it is a weird discussion.

Anyway, you always learn something new. If you would like to know whether they teach English in the UK, just check the national curriculum in England. They have more than sixty pages about statutory requirements in relation of teaching English.

This was clarified by myself at the beginning, the conversation developed (as conversations tend to).
Of course they teach English, but not in a theoretical, grammatical way.

 

[Adisa]

Thanks. My Nigerian friend keeps using this word as an affectionate way for our friendship even though I am not black. Hey my n*****, I've felt a bit uneasy because he was expecting me to reply back to him with that word. He felt it is just a word and it doesn't mean anything because this world has become too politically correct.

A black man expected you to call him the n word?

 

[Oranges038]

Totally ridiculous to be going after him for something he did so long ago. Yes it was wrong then and wrong now, but it was a fecking tweet by a kid nearly ten years ago.

 

[FreddieTheReddie]

You have to be careful with your translations here. You mentioned earlier that this is called the "n'ers kiss". That isn't how this is translated. This roughly means "Kiss of black" or "black kiss".

What you're unwittingly doing is arguing that it's alright to use the n and citing a dessert which you think was labelled after the n-word, when it isn't. Negro means 'black' in Spanish. The fact that a myriad of things are labelled negro in that culture doesn't mean that the N word was normalized and anything but malicious.

That dessert in Hungarian is called “négercsók” which translates to “n’ers kiss”. Should we rename it?

 

[Ladron de redcafe]

Totally ridiculous to be going after him for something he did so long ago. Yes it was wrong then and wrong now, but it was a fecking tweet by a kid nearly ten years ago.

Is the fact that it took place so long ago what makes it ridiculous to criticize him for?