And opportunities for lame excuses, too

Here’s what Jose Calderon (Spain’s men’s team, Toronto Raptors) has to say about that “slant-eye” picture:

I would like to share a story with you about something that happened with the Spanish National Team that someone interpreted incorrectly. It happened in the photo session where the Spanish National Team was introduced; one of our sponsors asked us to pose with a “wink” to our participation in Beijing, we made an oriental expression with our eyes. We thought it was something appropriate and that it would always be interpreted as somewhat loving. Never the less some of the European media did not see it this way.

From here I would like to declare that we have a huge respect for the East and their people, some of my best friends in Toronto are from China and one of our Spanish National Team sponsors is the Chinese brand Li Ning. Anyone who would like to interpret this differently is absolutely confused.

You can see that this is just about a matter of “misinterpretation.” Unfortunately, that’s the problem with people of color. They just aren’t able to interpret things correctly. Because making a gesture that pokes fun of people is always appropriate and obviously loving. Besides, I love the Far East and some of my best friends are Chinese!

Well, dude, it wasn’t just “someone” singular, and it wasn’t just the European media. You all fucked up, and you just made the depth of your ignorance and racism even more evident.