Sillakh said he had to fight as a kid because he was called n****r

[FeFist]

What did K actually say?

[PainfromUkraine]

However, just because someone get's offended, that doesn't mean the other party is trying to be offensive - imagine you were in Sillakh's situation, you would be the only kid of colour in your school, and other kid's would be poking fun at you or saying something about you because you aren't the same as them - regardless of it calling him a negro or just 'different', or anything, obviously it's easy to be offended if you may feel you are so isolated. In the US they won't get offended as that's a politically correct word to describe the ethnic group - in countries like Ukraine the ethnic group of Africans or Blacks doesn't exist, so it hasn't evolved from the word 'negro'. Similar to the other countries where they are not a significant part of the population.

And what do you mean - my reaction? I don't have a reaction, but I do understand Sillakh's potential one...

Why? Imagine your skin colour was purple and you live in a country where everybody's skin colour was orange. So all the kids start calling you purple. Purple this, purple that. Kids can be very insensitive. Wouldn't you get offended?

Yeah, that's how I see it.

Exactly, I'm pretty sure small kids cannot comprehend racism or any malicious intent in the use of 'racist terms', not to mention as I say it's not intended to offend, it's just like saying 'black' - this is a simple playground bullying at worst, and when everyone is the same then something must be picked on, in this case the fact he was part black where everyone else is white. Where is the proof that he was called anything derogatory in addition to the simple fact that he was black, which being different from everyone else, would clearly at least be uncomfortable, or be seen as an insult.

[Godsfly]

Why? Imagine your skin colour was purple and you live in a country where everybody's skin colour was orange. So all the kids start calling you purple. Purple this, purple that. Kids can be very insensitive. Wouldn't you get offended?

"Nearly 70 percent of Russians have negative feelings toward people of another ethnicity, Ustinov’s research found!"

this includes grown ups, kids, older people..........

[Light_Speed]

Why? Imagine your skin colour was purple and you live in a country where everybody's skin colour was orange. So all the kids start calling you purple. Purple this, purple that. Kids can be very insensitive. Wouldn't you get offended?

Sillakh didn't say he was being called "black" he said he was called "n****r". It's not like being called fat or ugly or whatever, they used a racial slur. Some people try to argue that there's no racial slur against blacks over there, that it's a normal word.

Where is the proof that he was called anything derogatory in addition to the simple fact that he was black, which being different from everyone else, would clearly at least be uncomfortable, or be seen as an insult.

Because he said it in the interview.

wouldn't doubt it....i tried to explain this MONTHS ago with people (we got into a debate about calgary AB and other countries, russia was brought up)

Russia has a huge xenophobia problem..........

"at one point The number of violent attacks on non-white foreigners peaked in 2007, when up to 5 were killed each month"

"Nearly 70 percent of Russians have negative feelings toward people of another ethnicity, Ustinov’s research found!"

Of course, this is well known.

[Ray*]

To be honest it looks like this has been blown out of proportions, I alway try to keep out of threads about race but this one is getting out of hand.

[PainfromUkraine]

Sillakh didn't say he was being called "black" he said he was called "n****r". It's not like being called fat or ugly or whatever, they used a racial slur. Some people try to argue that there's no racial slur against blacks over there, that it's a normal word.


Because he said it in the interview.



Of course, this is well known.

I said 'something derogatory in addition' to him simply being called 'black', we have already established the English/Spanish word 'negro' or 'nyegr' in Russian(which sounds more like 'n****r'). If the kids were calling him something like 'dirty' or 'worthless' in addition to the 'racial slur', that would indeed be racist as they would be lessening him as a person or showing racial hate. But simply calling him black, which 'nyegr' means - black person. As someone said in the other thread, the offensive interpretation pronounced "knee-gear" like the derogatory English word came from Hollywood etc but a lot later, small kids would not be using this.

I said that it isn't a slur because there aren't any blacks there to racially abuse (at least, no recognised group). As he was so unique in that environment he would clearly be an easy target, especially for children, and let's be honest it would be very easy to get offended from a lot of potential things being said about you if you are different from everybody else.

BTW, have you got a link or something to that interview so I can see in more detail?

[Light_Speed]

I said 'something derogatory in addition' to him simply being called 'black', we have already established the English/Spanish word 'negro' or 'nyegr' in Russian(which sounds more like 'n****r'). If the kids were calling him something like 'dirty' or 'worthless' in addition to the 'racial slur', that would indeed be racist as they would be lessening him as a person or showing racial hate. But simply calling him black, which 'nyegr' means - black person. As someone said in the other thread, the offensive interpretation pronounced "knee-gear" like the derogatory English word came from Hollywood etc but a lot later, small kids would not be using this.

I said that it isn't a slur because there aren't any blacks there to racially abuse (at least, no recognised group). As he was so unique in that environment he would clearly be an easy target, especially for children, and let's be honest it would be very easy to get offended from a lot of potential things being said about you if you are different from everybody else.

BTW, have you got a link or something to that interview so I can see in more detail?

I'll try to find the full HBO coverage and upload it on youtube. I remember he said "They called me n****r and I said what? Who's n****r?"

Let's replace it with black.

"They called me black and I said what? Who's black?"

Does that make sense to you? Unless Ismayl was color blind or something.

[FeFist]

Exactly, I'm pretty sure small kids cannot comprehend racism or any malicious intent in the use of 'racist terms', not to mention as I say it's not intended to offend, it's just like saying 'black' - this is a simple playground bullying at worst, and when everyone is the same then something must be picked on, in this case the fact he was part black where everyone else is white. Where is the proof that he was called anything derogatory in addition to the simple fact that he was black, which being different from everyone else, would clearly at least be uncomfortable, or be seen as an insult.

When I was 7 years old, a group of girls in my class called me a dirty monkey and would make monkey chants whenever I crossed them. Small kids can comprehending using someone's ethnicity to maliciously attack them.

If they hear their parents expressing certain views, they will take those views on as their own and re-enact them.

[Porter's Dad]

Again, people focusing on one specific word and miss the bigger point.

As the Russian speakers on this site keep saying, Kovalev saying this word doesn't carry the connotations it does in English-speaking countries.

However, what is troubling is most of the rest of what he said - which, if translated correctly, showed him to have a negative attitude towards black people. I wish it was in English, so I could understand it and try to make sense of his intentions. But translated, it doesn't look good at all.

[slicksouthpaw16]

And when he said it, he stated it with the "er" at the end. He didn't say "negro" or even ni88a, so it was definitely a racial slur. Why else would he get into fights?