Guillen & Mariotti Scandle
I was not going to post on this issue. My thoughts on Jay Mariotti are that he is the news media's version of a shock jock, and that he will go away if you just ignore him. For that reason, I have ignored the hullaballoo about Ozzie Guillen's comments about him. However, with Ozzie being fined today, I feel it is time to express myself on this issue.
Ozzie Guillen should sue MLB. They have fined him for using a word that he claims has a different connotation in Venezuela. Many have opined that he should know what the word means because he has been in the US for 2.5 decades. However, I don't find it very hard to believe that he might not have fully understood the meaning of the word.
Ozzie Guillen is a non-native english speaker. He learned to speak English in baseball clubhouses, and it should be expected that his speach patterns follow the norms of the environment in which he learned the language. The word in question, "faggot," is frequently used in athletic culture to refer to someone who is weak. Please note that I am not advocating that the word is unoffensive but merely that that is the way the word is used in athletic culture. Having heard the word in that context, it is natural that a non-native english speaker would understand that to be the meaning of the word. It is quite likely that he never made the connection between that word and homosexuality. Therefore, punishing him is discriminatory against him as a minority, and I feel he should consider suing MLB for damages.
Ozzie Guillen should sue MLB. They have fined him for using a word that he claims has a different connotation in Venezuela. Many have opined that he should know what the word means because he has been in the US for 2.5 decades. However, I don't find it very hard to believe that he might not have fully understood the meaning of the word.
Ozzie Guillen is a non-native english speaker. He learned to speak English in baseball clubhouses, and it should be expected that his speach patterns follow the norms of the environment in which he learned the language. The word in question, "faggot," is frequently used in athletic culture to refer to someone who is weak. Please note that I am not advocating that the word is unoffensive but merely that that is the way the word is used in athletic culture. Having heard the word in that context, it is natural that a non-native english speaker would understand that to be the meaning of the word. It is quite likely that he never made the connection between that word and homosexuality. Therefore, punishing him is discriminatory against him as a minority, and I feel he should consider suing MLB for damages.
posted by Pat at 5:14 PM
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