More indoctrination, please

It seems the Spanish have not been sufficiently indoctrinated into the arcana of political correctness. The picture to the left shows the 'faux pas' committed by the Spanish Olympic basketball team, which has caused the ever-vigilant British press to spring into action and expose this 'offensive' act.
Here, the journalist who 'broke' this earth-shaking story justifies his tattling on the team and creating an international tempest-in-a-teapot.
He says:
I mentioned it to my editor, explaining that it was considered a bit of fun in Spain. But the advert certainly was, as the headline said, eye-catching. He asked me to write 300 words. Not a huge amount - in fact hardly anything - tucked away on page 9 of the Guardian sports section. Now it's been round the world whipping up a storm, provoking debate and waves of accusation and counter-accusation. The New York Times ran it, so did the Los Angeles Times. It was the most-read story on guardian.co.uk for three days.
The fact that this inconsequential story is commanding so much attention is a sad commentary on what our society considers important. While the West is burning, our absurd elites are up in arms about this kind of thing. It's as though, unwilling to confront the real crises threatening our civilization, the head-in-the-sand types are working themselves up over this. It seems like a desperate attempt to focus attention away from the things that really matter, and that really need addressing, and diverting the attention of the public.
The comments by Guardian readers on this thread are the real cause for disgust.
The Spanish should know that this is a learning opportunity. In the UK we used to have this kind of humour sanctioned and promoted by the BBC in the sixties and seventies but increasing objections and anxieties about these impersonations over the years meant that we have learnt that singling out the physical characteristics of a race in order to make people laugh can, and often is, offensive. Slitty eye impressions, just like big lipped monkey impressions of Africans, are not very funny and backward, and people have the right to find it offensive, especially if they are Chinese and black. You cannot take that right away by claiming that it is all a joke. Ha Ha, it's only a joke to rub your hands together and crouch over and pretend you are Shylock. What next, swastikas? Very funny, I am sure.
Oh yes, the old argumentum ad Hitlerum. ''What next, swastikas?''And then genocide no doubt. To the PC liberal, there is racism around every corner and under every rock, and after racism, genocide.
These people are completely obsessed.
The commenter says this is a 'learning opportunity' for the Spaniards. To these people, everything is a 'learning opportunity',which translated into English means that everything is turned into a PC indoctrination session. That's why our commercials and advertising are chock-full of little preachy vignettes meant to instill correct thoughts and images into our heads.
Another comment:
I lived in Madrid for 1 year in 2001. I know the rest of the country very well too. I have lived in France, am currently living in the US and I'm from England. I would say I have pretty good first hand experience of all the cultures of these places (whilst deferring to the obvious fact that different cultures exist even within each country).So...my conclusions:None of these countries is racism free.Racism exists in these countries in different forms and it occurs in some similar forms. Some of these forms are obvious and some very hidden - the latter being much more concerning.All racism needs to be addressed and should not be tolerated.It is very important, given this continent's recent history, that any potential stirrings of racism or hatred in any form are shown up before the people to judge.''
Leave no stone unturned. No careless, joking word or gesture is to be unexamined. And 'the people' must 'judge' everything.
This sounds suspiciously like the tribunals and condemnation sessions so beloved of the old Communist countries.
I've already judged these self-appointed commissars of political correctness and I find them guilty of being little tin tyrants who must be opposed and resisted whenever and wherever they show up.
I hope that nobody cravenly apologizes, but no doubt that will be next on the schedule.

Labels: Indoctrination