Akinfenwa claims "Fleetwood representative" made racially insensitive comments

Recidivist3 said:
Some white people clearly have problems with a move towards racial equality. They can usually be identified on this board by comments such as ‘can we not say this then, can we not say that then’, including the use of the word that confuses them.

The very fact that even these people are now having to think about the rights and wrongs of what they are saying is, I think, a small victory for racial equality.
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If you think taking offence to absolutely anything and everything is improving racial tensions then you are so mistaken.
Of course it’s a racist remark in today’s climate.
 
Wizaard said:
The very use of water buffalo is a bit odd, don't you think? Why that particular analogy if there is no racist intent?
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Analogy
- a comparison between one thing and another, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification
- a correspondence or partial similarity
- a thing which is comparable to something else in significant respects

It’s the first time I’ve heard of ‘Water Buffalo’ being used in a derogatory manner, though clearly there is at least one precedent as per an earlier post on this thread

In my opinion. Akinfenwa’s tweet is both considered and eloquent. He graciously accepts that there may not have been any deliberate racial intent in using the term, something which a few on here seem to have overlooked.

I can’t understand how anyone could object to anything that he has written and the flippancy of some of the replies on here simply beggars belief tho’ sadly’ comes as no surprise whatsoever.
 
Perhaps slight racist connotations on this one. I’d say about 80% regarding his size and 20% regarding his skin tone. Stupid comment anyway, he’s ripped as fuck and would most likely be able to throw whoever said that through a brick wall. Glad he’s going Wembley again anyway, seems a decent enough guy.
 
GJJW said:
On a serious note, I've often described a player the size of Akinfenwa as a beast or monster. Nothing to do with skin colour but how difficult they are to handle. Can that be construed as racist now too?
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Good point.

You will be probably be allowed to refer to Jon Parkin as "the beast" but not Akinfenwa.

I have always liked Akinfenwa but in football - and other sports - opposing players often try and get each others heads when they are battling on the field, when the ref blows time up they shake hands, get changed and have a drink together.

I know everybody won't agree but what is said on the pitch should stay on the pitch.
 
HighfieldSeasider said:
Seriously? Can't understand how that can be construed as racist unless you're looking for it and decide thats how you want to interpret it?

Would it have been acceptable if whoever said it called him a 'Fat pig/hippo/rhino/elephant' instead of water buffalo?

If someone called him a 'Fat Monkey' then fair enough but 'Fat Water Buffalo', come on?
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Wow. Unbelievable you took the time to type that.

Did you get everything in there you wanted?
 
Insider said:
Akinfenwa is a big character and that's nothing to do with his weight. Watching the 2 matches he seemed more in control of team motivation than the Manager.
When we played them at Wycombe he never stopped chatting to Tilt on the touchline whilst they were "warming up".
He doesn't seem short of something to say and I'm sure he's used some choice phrases in matches in "discussions" with opposition players without complaints.
I think on this occasion he's being a bit of a snowflake.
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Without getting into the connotations of what the chap called Akinfenwa, I am surprised that Akinfenwa chose to highlight this.

Again, he is perfectly entitled to highlight the incident if he so wishes but I can't help but thinking he wouldn't have said anything if it happened 6 months ago.

I imagine some will agree, some won't and some will say it's a good thing that he has chosen to highlight it.
 
There is an obvious show of what peoples views on discrimination are on this thread. It's a painful and sorry read.

I suppose the fact that the average posting age is late 50's early 60's gives me hope for the future mind.
 
Loads of players are called a donkey .
Some on here call Vardy "rat man".
Then there's `Northern monkey'.
Or the chant "Gareth Bale, he looks like an ape"
 
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Listing names that might not bother one person can have a profound affect on another.

The fact derogatory name calling from schoolyards of yesteryear is no longer acceptable in 2020 is what I'd call progress.

As an earlier poster said - call Mr Akinfenwa any name you like to his face.
 
TwelveAngryMen said:
A few I’d say

Gorilla
Pig
Chicken
Snake
Hippo
Dog / bitch

I could go on
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You could go on Tim...But in all those cases I’ve never heard a white person called a ‘x’ because of ‘physical resemblance’ (not my words), but always because of verbiage as a description.
If I called you a chicken for not fighting the Oystons court case on you - not that I think that at all - its purely a descriptive that people recognise to frame your supposed personality.

It’s a world away from describing you as a ‘insert animal here’ because you’re meant to look like it.

You used Gorilla at the top of your list, you can surely see that calling you that and calling a black person that, would have a massive difference in connotation, depending on whom said what.
 
A pejorative word can have multiple connotations......
Call a white person....Gorilla.....They are a big burly man who would do you damage in a physical way....like a bouncer.
Call a black person...Gorilla.....That connotation is totally different.
 
He was very good natured and had some good banter on a number of occasions with BFC fans when they were taking the mick. This sounds a bit different to him and it came in an empty ground from a representative of the opposition not a supporter. And he is not being nasty about it but trying to educate people and let them know he finds it offensive.
 
I’d be interested to know what the reaction would be on here if Gnanduilet, Feeney, KaiKai or Delfounso had said this had been said to them by a Fleetwood representative.
 
It is somewhat interesting that on the same thread where we have plenty of folk getting their Alan Whickers in a twist because somebody has called someone a "fat water buffalo" we have a post stating "It could be worse he could be an ignorant scouse gobshite" and people approving of such a post.

Personally, I'm not overly bothered about the use of the terms "fat water buffalo" - certainly not a football pitch to a chunky member of the opposition - or "ignorant scouse gobshite".

Saying that, I wonder what the reaction would have been if somebody had stated on this thread that they considered Akinfenwa to be an "ignorant ***** gobshite".

Are we saying that it's perfectly acceptable to be prejudice when it comes to folk from Liverpool but far more serious to be prejudice against black people ?

A huge OTT reaction and I think we are using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Neither term is particularly clever but I am not sure we should be hanging people for using either of the terms.
 
bfcpete said:
He was very good natured and had some good banter on a number of occasions with BFC fans when they were taking the mick. This sounds a bit different to him and it came in an empty ground from a representative of the opposition not a supporter. And he is not being nasty about it but trying to educate people and let them know he finds it offensive.
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He has certainly always come across as a nice chap when I have listened to him on various things that he's been on.

I am surprised he didn't have it out with the other chap on the field.

For the benefit of the tape, by that I mean resolve it amicably, I wasn't suggesting he should have given the guy a slap because he was bigger (probably) than him.

Not excusing the other fecker but I'd be finding it hard to believe that he just decided randomly to call somebody a fat water buffalo.
 
Macseasider said:
There is an obvious show of what peoples views on discrimination are on this thread. It's a painful and sorry read.

I suppose the fact that the average posting age is late 50's early 60's gives me hope for the future mind.
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Indeed a very, very painful read Mac. Especially as I thought Adebayo's message was well written and surprisingly gracious. He's not out to cause a drama, he's clearly just saying 'please listen to the people this behaviour affects and don't do it again'.

I'm so tired of reading middle aged white blokes decide what is and isn't hurtful. Just shut up and listen.
 
All these posts on this thread and others in recent times, where some of our posters start with "What if I said X term to a white person, would that be offensive?" and start coming up with all kinds of theoreticals. Why? Why are so many of you on the defensive from the get-go when it comes to absolutely any discussion surrounding race? Why don't you try to understand instead of try to reinterpret in a way that is convenient to you?
 
Alf said:
Indeed a very, very painful read Mac. Especially as I thought Adebayo's message was well written and surprisingly gracious. He's not out to cause a drama, he's clearly just saying 'please listen to the people this behaviour affects and don't do it again'.

I'm so tired of reading middle aged white blokes decide what is and isn't hurtful. Just shut up and listen.
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Brilliant post. Well said Alf.

And speak your mind on here mate. Nice one.
 
What’s the difference between calling him a “water buffalo” or a “gorilla” or even a “chimp”? Nothing, they are all have racist connotations because you are comparing him with an “inferior” species from Africa, as a term of abuse. It hardly sounds friendly or affectionate, does it?

I think Akinfenwa has raised the issue in a dignified and controlled manner. He is also saying... “please don’t be so ignorant as to pretend you didn’t know the offence your words gave”. And that the abuse was given repeatedly, not just a slip or a one-off “joke”, is an aggravating factor for the racist behaviour.

By the way, anyone here ever called Armand Gnanduillet a “giraffe”? I’ve heard that term a few times at home games this season. What do we think of that?
 
As Wiz said ‘in the current climate, it was very ill judged’ - it will be a headache that FTFC can do without.

Akinfenwa seems a decent bloke and TBF he had a bit of banter with the crowd and was laughing to the ‘Fattist’ (is that even a word ?) comments when WW played at BFC last season.

not a great situation though 😞
 
bottom line is you can't say anything against any black person now.

Even calling a player shit will be linked to the colour of, as opposed to them not being very good.

It's very easy to throw the racist card about - personally I think it's sad that the first thing people think about is whether there is any racist connotation. Says more about them, and not in a good way.

I'll check back later to view the preachy response from Mac about my views on life. 🙄
 
you do wonder if Akinfenwa would of taken the water buffalo comment so seriously 6 months ago. I don’t see the racist angle here only the size angle. He’s a big lad and suspect the name calling was probably aimed at this rather than the colour of his skin. But you can’t say anything these days without it being twisted to suit the narrative. All in all I would say it’s a storm in a tea cup and will blow over. (P.S. for the attack dogs about to flip out I actually really like the guy, seems a decent bloke.)
 
Rektseasider said:
That’s just post modernist nonsense, if I call him a green tree and he thinks that’s racist I’ve automatically made a racist comment and by implication I’m racist.

At least most of this thread is debating weather or not the comment was racially aggravated, but this is just ridiculous.
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Spot on Rekt and there lies the problem. There are people actively seeking racism where there is none. Finding evil where there isn't any. And it's counter productive as it causes division.
 
Scaramanga said:
you do wonder if Akinfenwa would of taken the water buffalo comment so seriously 6 months ago. I don’t see the racist angle here only the size angle. He’s a big lad and suspect the name calling was probably aimed at this rather than the colour of his skin. But you can’t say anything these days without it being twisted to suit the narrative. All in all I would say it’s a storm in a tea cup and will blow over. (P.S. for the attack dogs about to flip out I actually really like the guy, seems a decent bloke.)
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It's not what you see, it's what he perceives. You don't seem to be able to get your head round that.
 
Halifax71 said:
bottom line is you can't say anything against any black person now.

Even calling a player shit will be linked to the colour of, as opposed to them not being very good.

It's very easy to throw the racist card about - personally I think it's sad that the first thing people think about is whether there is any racist connotation. Says more about them, and not in a good way.

I'll check back later to view the preachy response from Mac about my views on life. 🙄
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I'll preach to nobody but I will have my say.

But it's me that thought it had a racist connotation. It was the player himself. And for someone who is regularly abused because of his appearance he seems to be, judging by his IG post, very upset about the comment. That in itself renders the comment unacceptable but based on your post I wouldn't expect you to understand that.
 
Wizaard said:
It's not what you see, it's what he perceives. You don't seem to be able to get your head round that.
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I think most people can get their head round it Wiz, although possibly some on here can't. It's just that anyone can perceive anything they want to. They can turn something perfectly harmless in to something evil, if they choose to perceive it that way. And that's where it gets a bit dangerous in my opinion.
 
So he didn’t hear the comment himself but was told about it from someone else. 🤔
I doubt it would have even got a mention had it not been for the BLM movement.
Seriously there’s more things in life than being called a water Buffalo (thats if it happened by the way)
I wonder if it was another club we would be debating it on here?
 
RUSTY_2_STANDS said:
I think most people can get their head round it Wiz, although possibly some on here can't. It's just that anyone can perceive anything they want to. They can turn something perfectly harmless in to something evil, if they choose to perceive it that way. And that's where it gets a bit dangerous in my opinion.
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Fair enough. However, I still want to know why water buffalo? It's very low on my list of possibilities if I'm considering an insult. It's that that makes me think there's more to it than standard insulting, where surely you'd go for the straightforward fat **, or variant thereon. No issue with perception then.
 
SEASIDE2020 said:
Without getting into the connotations of what the chap called Akinfenwa, I am surprised that Akinfenwa chose to highlight this.

Again, he is perfectly entitled to highlight the incident if he so wishes but I can't help but thinking he wouldn't have said anything if it happened 6 months ago.

I imagine some will agree, some won't and some will say it's a good thing that he has chosen to highlight it.
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Yes, it's not like anyone referred to his frizzy hair, is it?
 
Any kind of insult can be upsetting and offend the person it's directed at.
The black community is quite rightly sensitive about this currently and I agree with what Wiz said earlier that on this occasion it may have been ill-timed.
Also as others have said if the person that it's directed at finds it racist then it is racist (to them).
On the other side of the coin if I had called Adi a Water Buffalo in my mind it wouldn't have been a racist remark for 2 reasons.
1. I'm not racist.
2. I would have had no idea Water Buffalo had racist connations. I could equally have called Gareth Ainsworth a hairy Water Buffalo.
And to answer the other question about saying it to his face then if I was directing at him as an insult then no I wouldn't.
In fact I would be more likely to say it to him to his face because then it would be be banter after he'd insulted me by calling me a stupid old f@rt.
 
I think his post about the incident was put extremely well and he remarked that he wasn't sure if it was intended or not which is fair enough as I didn't know it had racial undertones to it either without seeing a slang meaning to the word. I do agree with his comments about education being the way forward also as it has certainly educated me on the use of the word if used in a derogatory way to a poc. The games ive seen him against Blackpool he has always taken any 'banter' about his size very well and why wouldn't he as he has a body like some sort of ripped god so I don't see him crying out for the sake of it.
With that being said, I find the mixed messaging confusing where in his own tweet back in February he compares a picture of himself being jumped on side by side with a lion jumping on what I believe is a water buffalo. Its these mixed messages not just by Akinfenwa that makes things like this so difficult however having said that he can refer to himself however he likes, it doesn't mean its okay for others to do the same.
From what he said though in his statement I would be on his side
 
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