Monday Musing: Zidane and Racism

Asad Raza has written an excellent commentary here at 3QD today on the Zidane headbutt incident at the World Cup final, and I just want to add my two cents now. We still don't know exactly what Marco Materazzi said (and did) to Zidane to make him lose his trademark cool, but out of the cloud of rife speculation two candidates materialize repeatedly: that either Materazzi must have hurled racist slurs at Zidane, or that Materazzi insulted Zidane's family. Before I examine these two possibilities, let me say something about what I do not believe happened.

It is not possible, in my opinion, that Zidane deliberately chose a moment when the referee was busy elsewhere to headbutt Materazzi, believing that the attack would not be noticed. It is absolutely obvious to me from having repeatedly watched the video that Zidane's actions were the result of sudden rage, which, as I can well remember from my own hot-tempered youth, always takes a few seconds to swell after the moment of provocation. Zidane could not possibly have looked around to make sure all the officials were busy, and if he were calculating so clearly, he would have known that a stadium full of people (not to mention the billion plus around the world) were watching, and he would have remembered what was at stake. No, that was clearly a moment of uncontrollable anger, the kind when the blood rushes to your head, you feel a kind of heat, your face turns red and throbs, and then you lash out. There is nothing you can do about that kind of mental storm. It is a moment of temporary insanity, not something subject to choice. And it is clear, at least to me, from the video that Zidane tried to trot away as the anger rose, but lost control and turned around...

As for Materazzi insulting Zidane's mother (and all the possible variations on this theme), it is very unlikely that something like that could or would inflame Zidane. The reasons are twofold: first, these kinds of insults have become so common in everyday discourse that they have lost all their teeth. It is now possible to address a close friend as "Yo, Mofo..." But second, and more important, for an insult to really injure its victim there must be an asymmetry preventing the person from just yelling the insult back. It is then, when the person insulted feels he cannot reply, that he replies physically. And this is exactly what racist insults do. If a white man yells the N-word at a black man, there is no equivalent word that the black man can yell back. By using this word, the white man is essentially taunting the black man by reminding him of the abuse that he, his ancestors, his whole race have have to endure at the white man's hand, and how he is impotent to stop it. It is like someone taunting you that he raped your mother, and you knowing that it's true! History denies the black man the opportunity of responding in kind, and the only choice left may seem to be to demonstrate that one is not so impotent after all, that one can hit back. This, that it relies on a history of oppression and injury, and on asymmetrical relations of power, is what is so insidious about racial insult, and why we are so careful to avoid its double-injustice in decent society.

Racism is prevalent in Europe. England has its Paky-bashers and the Germans their hateful skinheads. The Italians are routinely prejudiced against their own darker southern citizens. And Spaniards, to their shame, have recently brought racism explicitly to football. This is from Wikipedia:

Luis Aragonés became Spain's coach in 2004. During a training session with the national team, a Spanish TV crew caught Aragonés motivating Henry's Arsenal teammate José Antonio Reyes in a strange way ("Give him the ball, and then show that black little shit that you are better than him.") The incident caused an uproar in the British media with calls for Aragonés to be sacked. When Spain played England in a friendly match at the Bernabéu later that year, the crowd was hostile. Whenever black English players touched the ball, large segments of the Spanish crowd began to make "monkey chants." The Spanish football federation -- the RFEF -- eventually fined the coach €3,000.

When I visited France about ten years ago, the helpful guidebook to Paris I had bought pointed out that "If you look like you might be an Arab, expect some hostility on the streets of Paris." Naturally, this made me a little nervous, and in a ludicrous attempt at not looking Arab (which I am not, but I am brown and Muslim), I went around everywhere wearing a necktie! I can only try to imagine what a lifetime of dealing with racial insults and very real prejudice must do to a person's spirit. Given the history of what France did in Algeria, is it so shocking that a person of Algerian descent would be sensitive to racial taunting?

As I write this, some reports are already filtering in that indeed Materazzi racially assaulted Zidane. Frankly, nothing else makes sense. If Materazzi had insulted Zidane's family, Zidane could have replied in kind; but if he attacked Zidane racially, then Materazzi got what he deserved, and should be punished further. Am I excusing Zidane? If he was racially insulted, yes I am. Zidane could not help himself under the circumstances. I would excuse Zidane for the same reason that a prosecutor will, under certain circumstances, decline to bring charges against a man who comes home to find his wife in bed with her lover and, in a moment of temporary insanity, kills him. In this, there is an acknowledgment that there is not always a right and wrong in everything. Sometimes, a man loses rationality. That is just human nature. Deal with it. (Or hate all men.)

And as Western nations continue to dominate and oppress the third world by economic as well as military means and the cynical manipulation of governments, as they continue to wreak havoc on the environment, as the injustices of extreme inequality in the distributions of wealth continue to grow, it is to be expected that some will be driven to irrational anger, and will break the rules. And hit back. You can't just show everyone a red card.

Lindsay Beyerstein has a great critical response to my argument here.

Have a good week!  My other Monday Musing columns can be seen here.

Comments

[Cristina]

well said and compasionate enough. I am thankful for your steering away from "this does not happen in America" kind of selfrighteous remarks.

[tde]

Or just maybe Zidane is an asshole?

[Faust]

Hi man, you are right about Zidane and human nature. Racism is ingrained in human nature--so is momentary anger, such as Zidane's. Dont let the media assasinate Zidane.

[cristina]

ESPN en Español already is. After Fifa's announcement on Zidane de Oro, ESPN showed a 1 min clip with Zidane's shots from when he was a kid, then beautiful passes and mastering the ball, and finished with the headbutt and the walk away form the trophy. Commentators all acting puzzled by Fifa's decision to prise ZZ.

[ThePolynomial]

Hm, I completely disagree with you, although I'm interested in hearing other people's reactions. I believe as an athlete your job is not just to master the skills of the game, but it is also to master a sportsman's mentality, which includes taking ANY comments--from silly teasing to racist remarks to taunts about your dead daughter--in stride. (God, I hope nobody reading this actually has a dead daughter...just the most horrible thing I could think of, anyway...)

Even for the layman, I'm not entirely convinced that a comment could, itself, provoke uncontrollable rage (just because I've never felt that...and I'm not convinced it couldn't either). Since the blog's generally science-y, are there any studies on direct rage responses to remarks?

[DJA]

I would excuse Zidane for the same reason that a prosecutor will, under certain circumstances, decline to bring charges against a man who comes home to find his wife in bed with her lover and, in a moment of temporary insanity, kills him.

Abbas, I must say, I'm not aware of a single such incident happening anywhere in the United States during my lifetime, and, more to the point, I would certainly condemn your hypothetical prosecutor in the strongest possible terms. "Crimes of passion" are still crimes.

[maniza]

Yeah---but by the rules of the game--that's a red card--gut wrenching, tragic as it is. Maybe we're going to find out that whatever the Italian player said deserves a red card too--but Zidane earned his red card.
Let me put it this way--if the guy called Zizou's mom names or his religion names or his race names--if his mom, his
God/prophet or his entire race were the referee they too would have had to have redcarded him -.
The bright side is, that now he truely is a legend. It was a mythological/archtypical moment and Zidane made his nano second choice. The hero took a fall. No one is more appealing/compelling then a fallen hero.

[Bild]

To think of all the various groups and movements who could gratefully make use of the statement below to justify all sorts of exciting revolutionary bloodshed, provides quite a frisson.

"And as Western nations continue to dominate and oppress the third world by economic as well as military means and the cynical manipulation of governments, as they continue to wreak havoc on the environment, as the injustices of extreme inequality in the distributions of wealth continue to grow, it is to be expected that some will be driven to irrational anger, and will break the rules. And hit back. You can't just show everyone a red card."

After all, how can you blame someone for "pock-marking" another person's body with a power drill, in view of the enormity of Bush's and Blair's crimes?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2230672,00.html

[Tony Byer]

Unlike Italy and Spain, where racism in football is commonplace, France has shown itself as a team of different racial components with great talent and truly French. Zidane is a professional and would not have head butted Materazzi without some sort of provocation. I truly believe Zidane was insulted and provoked, and though I dont excuse his behaviour, this was the only way the Italians could have won, because they were inferior to the French. I congratulate Zidane and the French team and I do NOT consider the Italians worthy of the trophy, they are corrupt in every sense of the word. True champions behave like champions and if Zidane deserved to be sent off so was Materazzi. FIFA needs to hold all players and coaches more accountable for their words and actions, but in a sport where the spanish coach can call Henry a black little shit and spanish crowds can hurl racial insults at blacl players, it doesnt surprise me that Materazzi insulted Zidane and I believe it was racially motivated.

[Prasad]

May be it is just me, but even if it is racial it just not behoove of a captain of a national team at the highest level to screw it up that badly.

Your prosecutor analogy is just bad. Nobody is asking him to be prosecuted and saying what he did is illegal, people are disappointed that he excersized such a bad judgement at a crucual time. It would tarnish the reputation of him as a level headed human being and also as a roll model.

[Barnette]

Passad, you think that damaged Zidane's reputation as a level headed human being? The man has been sent off field with red cards 14 times in his career, and that was only the second head butt he delivered in a match. If you want perfection, look elsewhere for your heroes. I take mine flawed. Even Jesus lost his temper (turning out the money-changers from the temple). Every man has their breaking point and timing makes no difference.

[Bee]

Thank you for this article. I have been so upset since the match, and it has made me feel better.
Hopefully some good will come out of this incident. Maybe FIFA will finally take some action against racism. And maybe we'll see new rules pertaining to the use of video replays.
What's really interesting is that no one except the Italians care about who won the trophy. Everyone else cares about the Zizou incident. One man eclipsed all. That is greatness.

[Cal]

"I would excuse Zidane for the same reason that a prosecutor will, under certain circumstances, decline to bring charges against a man who comes home to find his wife in bed with her lover and, in a moment of temporary insanity, kills him."

There is no parallel here. There was no physical provocation on Matreazzi's part and if there had been it would not be comparable to rape. The fact you are excusing Zidane suggests to me that you may have prejudices against Italians.

Sticks and Stones may hurt my bones but names will never hurt me.

[human]

ThePolynomial, to say that it's always the responsibility of the abused party to bear up under abuse and never respond, is to completely excuse the abuser.

Part of the problem here is illustrated very well, you use remarks about a dead sister as an example and then go on to hope fervently that nobody actually has a dead sister. Because if they did, it would be inexcusable for you to "trash talk" about that, wouldn't it?

Well, if a white player calls a black player a n-----, it really is true that the black player is black, isn't it? And it really is true that many people in the world despite him for this, maybe even make monkey noises when he takes the field.

If someone tells you they slept with your sister last night, you can tell them no no, they were confused, that was their own mother. But if someone calls you by a racial slur, and you are a member of a minority group, what do you do? What can you say? There's nothing you can say that's anything like what they just said to you.

That whole Sticks and Stones thing is BS, didn't you all learn that in elementary school?

[Ruchira Paul]

Also, there is some difference between an athlete throwing a vicious tantrum that puts his/her own game in jeopardy (John McEnroe) and the captain of a team doing it when the game is down to the wire and team leans on him for confidence. I am not sure if Zidane's presence or absence was the deciding factor in the end. But the question will be asked and it will not be answered to anyone's satisfaction. I personally don't feel that Zidane is going to suffer irreparable harm to his reputation. He won the Golden Ball - a decision that FIFA made after the head butting incident. He cried heaving sobs from the balcony of the hotel in Paris where the French team had gathered upon its return. He obviously feels as bad as do his fans. He was angry and he is now contrite. A much more endearing combination of human emotions than unmitigated arrogance.

I wasn't rooting for either team and was quite dispassionate about the outcome. But I would have enjoyed seeing Zidane going out on a triumphant note. Instead I will remember him writing the tragic script for his own swan song. I will also remember the Italian defense and I believe that the second Italian goal in regulation time was legit. I didn't think Luca Toni was offside when he sent in that header.

[aguy109]

Maybe Zidane could sue Materazzi, or give evidence to the Italian commission which is currently investigating match fixing in the Italian League. There are reports that several leading teams are about to be relegated for match fixing. If it could be proven that these insults were a deliberate attempt to enrage France's star player and get him redcarded, then Italy could logically be accused of fixing the final, and be stripped of its World Cup Title...

[ThePolynomial]

Human-

I don't think this kind of talk is excusable at all, especially under normal circumstances. That is why I said taking abuse is a skill specific to professional athletes. Part of the job of an athlete is to maintain perfect mental condition under the taunts of other athletes.

People on the street (heck, even on the blogs) should not be subjected to insults so mild as, "you're ugly!" Even if the person has a recourse ("no, you're ugly") it's just rude and can make people feel bad about themselves. On the field, insults are commonplace as each team tries to throw the other off their mental game. Whoever can tolerate more has an advantage in the sport. Yes, there are limits of tact, and it is really unsportsmanly to make racial insults on the field, but ultimately Zidane's actions harmed his team, and it is his responsibility as a soccer player to make sure that doesn't happen.

[mark]

My only issue with this whole debacle is this. I too remember the 'red mist descending' in my youth. If someone wound me up enough for me to loose it completely, despite all the crap I had been through already, and despite all my training and professionalism to the contrary, the last thing I would have done would have been to head but him IN THE CHEST. That takes accuracy, you have to aim for that. If ZZ was as pissed as people are making out (and I saw Duncan Ferguson do this for real once) you take out the nose and half his teeth by instincy, not his breastbone. That too me is the real puzzle...but maybe its only a puzzle if you are Scottish...

[tom]

Mr. Paul wrote: "I will also remember the Italian defense and I believe that the second Italian goal in regulation time was legit. I didn't think Luca Toni was offside when he sent in that header."

The replays show this definitively. The game should not have gone to overtime. To rectify this injustice, god/allah allowed the devil to enrage ZZ to the point of the eruption.

Unlike regular professional sports where the players tend to represent themselves as well as their clubs, world competitions are between countries with players as representatives of the homeland. When the basketball players went into the stands in Detroit and wailed on some fans, they got fined, but it didn't reflect on the city. When Bode Miller allowed his lifestyle to affect his performance in the Olympics he was being particularly selfish. Ditto with ZZ.

Having said this, I also think that the incident dramatizes the alientation that North Africans feel in France. Psychologically, given the innate French arrogance and snobism I seriously doubt the French team felt they were representing France. Would they have wrapped themselves in the Tricoleur had they won...? Doubtful.

[RaffieN]

This is a nice piece of fiction that you have written. Does the fact that racism was not part of this incident change your perspective? Among rational people there are many verbal responses that can be used when one's family is insulted. There is no need to head butt one in the chest. That is, unless one is irrational.

[franco]

sorry but Materazzi didn't say anything about religion or other. so: Italy world champion (4 times, not one like France), Zidane asshole (he did the same thing in Juventus-Amburgo and remember France 98!!!!) so, if you are blind, you can say Zidane was right but he wasn't! he isn't the best player for this reason: a lot of red cards and stupid behavior like in the final http://football.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1825400,00.html

[James D. Bilotta]

Editor, an excellent and powerful book suggestion for your readers: 3rd ed. of: Race and the Rise of the Republican Party, 1848-1865. Backed by 18 years of research this is a serious treatment of US racism/ethnocentrism and is not for the timid. Dr. James D. Bilotta/raceandrepublicans.com

[James D. Bilotta]

Editor, an excellent and powerful book suggestion for your readers: 3rd ed. of: Race and the Rise of the Republican Party, 1848-1865. Backed by 18 years of research this is a serious treatment of US racism/ethnocentrism and is not for the timid. Dr. James D. Bilotta/raceandrepublicans.com

[Anand Kumar]

Official Website of Shri Srinivasa Ragavaswamy charitable Trust in South India working towards constructing a temple for Sri Srinivasa Perumal (balaji) with Raja Gopuram which is named as Kovai Thiruppathy.