Steve Gillard Finally chimes In

image: CNN
About 5 minutes after Zidane's head butt I looked at Steve Gillard's The News Blog, to see what he had to say about the incident. (from our friend's Ruben and Sandra's house- I couldn't even wait until I got home- thanks guys.) I was interested because he is a huge soccer/ World Cup fan and also because he is an African American male who often writes about race and politics. Gillard had not written anything about it in the first 48 hours after it happened and in the meantime I have read or heard one person after another say what a stupid thing it was for such a high level player, there is no excuse, how could he lose his cool, and on and on and on.
From the beginning I have to say I have been sypathetic with Zindane. However, I could not really articulate why. Well tonight Gillard finally chimed in and it was worth the wait- everyone should read this. He is responding to a writer who basically says saying racist things are bad, but still Zindane shouldn't have done what he did- how could such a high level player let that happen?

It's really simple why Lindsay doesn't understand, really can't understand. She's not a minority man .

Even if someone called her a cunt during a fight, that may be deeply offensive to her, but she's not going to hit someone.

Zidane is a human being, and while he can get pissed off about play on the field, that was an insult to the man. Nothing else could get that reaction. When someone denies your humanity in front of your face, which is what a racial slur is, self-control is nice if you get to think about it. But when you bait someone so offensively, and I'm convinced that is what happened, and there's a response, that's what happens.

In a perfect world, he might have had better self-control, but when you've been called a dirty Arab from childhood, there is only so much shit you're gonna take from someone as a man.

Notice how he hasn't apologized, hasn't been asked to apologize and then won the Golden Boot. That wouldn't have happened unless there was a feeling that he was the wronged party. In the US, there's been shock, but in France, it's widely accepted he was a victim of race baiting.

He also hasn't explained what happened yet, which shows an amazing amount of class. He didn't taint the Italian victory as they won. But it's clear that what was said will come out and Italy will not look good.

Race is a real issue in Southern European football and has been for a while . When the English played in Spain, their black players were racially taunted. So it's hardly a surprise here.

In the end, it's about respect. There is only so much disrespect a minority man will accept in his life and Zidane decided not be disrespected. It wasn't the best choice, or the right choice, but there's only so much crap one can take in life.