The Banana incident

[King of Otters]

This isn’t the kind of statement I’d put my name to on social media for fear of a public shaming, but the eagerness to jump on an incident which could quite conceivably have zero racial connotations at all is extremely worrying. Public figures left right and centre are lining up to condemn this is as some sort of organised racist attack, rather than a banana skin being thrown in the general vicinity of a group of millionaire footballers.

I guess it’s possible that this guy took a banana to a game, ate the fruit and kept the skin to throw at the nearest black player at the first opportunity, but surely it’s equally possible that a man just ate a banana and threw the skin at a group of rival players celebrating in front of him?

Any discussion of race in this country gets polarised so quickly that it’s pointless looking for common sense, much less nuance. Tbh, I feel for the guy stuck in the middle of this. Enough people have shouted ‘racist’ at him now that nothing he ever says or does will wash the stain away. All over a fucking banana skin.

 

[fletch82]

Just a question but is the goonie prick who threw a cup of drink over dele also facing prosecution ?
Fruit skin cup of drink ? I don't see much difference if it wasn't aimed as a insult it's still throwing an object no ?

 

[guy]

The parent is an idiot for bringing a banana in! With the past issues and connotations of a banana at a football game, it's just not worth even bringing it into the ground IMO

Obviously doesn't excuse the throwing of it, but d'oh moment indeed.

The fact that the banana was eaten first was a dead giveaway it was not a premeditated racist act.

 

[mark87]

The parent is an idiot for bringing a banana in! With the past issues and connotations of a banana at a football game, it's just not worth even bringing it into the ground IMO

Obviously doesn't excuse the throwing of it, but d'oh moment indeed.

The fact that the banana was eaten first was a dead giveaway it was not a premeditated racist act.

This is it, do not bring a banana to a football because of its negative connotations. I'd never think to bring something like that to game.

 

[Phomesy]

This is it, do not bring a banana to a football because of its negative connotations. I'd never think to bring something like that to game.

I'm sorry but this is getting ridiculous. If the Banana was brought into the stadium by a parent for his child to eat then WTF is wrong with that? You can't ban the eating of bananas by children because a tiny minority of racist scumbags think throwing them at black players makes them look anything other than total racist ****s.

Edit: The bit in bold excludes any and all Milwall parents and their children.

 

[Spurrific]

I'm sorry but this is getting ridiculous. If the Banana was brought into the stadium by a parent for his child to eat then WTF is wrong with that? You can't ban the eating of bananas by children because a tiny minority of racist scumbags think throwing them at black players makes them look anything other than total racist ****s.

Totally disagree, in fact we should just ban bananas altogether

 

[MattyP]

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/7890354/spurs-fan-throw-banana-skin-aubameyang-says-not-racist/

Just saw this......

Never a big fan of the “I’m not a racist because I’ve got black friends” line.

But I suppose at least he’s tackled this head on by fronting up now, even if it through that absolute rag.

 

[Phomesy]

Totally disagree, in fact we should just ban bananas altogether

Well, yes, I'm not a fan myself really but they are high in fibre and rich in potassium and if I could get my kids to eat them rather than fucking nutella I'd feel much better about myself as a parent and human being.

 

[EastLondonYid]

Never a big fan of the “I’m not a racist because I’ve got black friends” line.

But I suppose at least he’s tackled this head on by fronting up now, even if it through that absolute rag.

2018 and we still talk about colour, shameful

 

[mark87]

I'm sorry but this is getting ridiculous. If the Banana was brought into the stadium by a parent for his child to eat then WTF is wrong with that? You can't ban the eating of bananas by children because a tiny minority of racist scumbags think throwing them at black players makes them look anything other than total racist ****s.

Edit: The bit in bold excludes any and all Milwall parents and their children.

Of course it was totally innocent and it was genuinely for the son to eat but it's just one of those things you have to be careful about these days. The parent clearly had no bad intentions but look what's happened here with someone end up throwing the skin towards a black player and how bad it looks for him and us at a club. I'm not at all saying ban bananas, just maybe think twice about taking one, that's all.

 

[jj87]

Awful lot of benefit of the doubt here...

Claiming there was no racist intent is pretty much exactly what you'd say if you got caught no?

I cannot believe there is a single football fan in this country (especially one of his age) who wouldn't understand the significance and maybe think twice, however angry you were.

 

[double0]

A Tottenham fan throwing a banana on the pitch....WOW!! What a foooool. I am ashamed to the core about this like many other Spurs its an embarrassment , just goes to show racism is surface deep.

Not show if Ledley King has come out and spoke about this because our club really need to show zero tolerance.

 

[Timberwolf]

Well if he's not racist I assume he'll appeel.

 

[JimmyG2]

I am not here to condone or justify what happened , but just relay the truth of what happened.
The guy who threw the banana skin is someone i know of but my best pal was there.
He is a 50 odd cypriot fella who was at the game with my best pal, they were sat next to a man with his very young son who ate the banana before KO and threw the skin on the floor.When the scum scored they came over and were goading our fans, the main culprit was Bellerin, our fans went mental and got out of hand , this guy picked up the skin off the floor and chucked it at Bellerin. He didn't plan it or bring the banana into the ground, it was there and when the red mist took over ,he just picked up anything to throw at them and unfortunately it was the skin..
The police believe him that this was NOT a racist act and have charged him with throwing a missile NOT racist act.
The fella called the club and they also believe him, but they said he will be banned untill the outcome of the courts.
HE WAS STUPID AND OUT OF ORDER, but do not believe whats being reported...THIS WAS NOT RACIST ACT.

I am not saying he shouldn't be punished or banned, but i wanted the truth to be told that it wasn't a racist act by our fan.

M'Lud.

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

I'm not even sure that monkeys actually eat bananas. At least not in the wild. Not as a significant part of their diet. In fact, I think it's the bananas that are the victims here, being unfairly associated with racism.

 

[southlondonyiddo]

i don’t think throwing a banana skin at Hector Bellerin can be thought of as a racist act

This is getting ridiculous as is the idea that you wouldn’t bring a banana to a football match these days

It’s like banning THFC St George’s flags because they might be linked to the NF

 

[riggi]

A Tottenham fan throwing a banana on the pitch....WOW!! What a foooool. I am ashamed to the core about this like many other Spurs its an embarrassment , just goes to show racism is surface deep.

Not show if Ledley King has come out and spoke about this because our club really need to show zero tolerance.

Ledley probably isn't the one to talk about racisim after his Faces exit ?.

 

[Gareth88]

This is it, do not bring a banana to a football because of its negative connotations. I'd never think to bring something like that to game.

If you're going to bring any fruit bring an orange it's easier to throw with purpose and will do more damage.Bananas and football have a bad history lets just have a total fruit ban at games and be done with any racist accusations going forward. Lets leave racism where it belongs in the past or attached to Chelsea FC not Tottenham.

 

[Dennism]

It is unfortunate that the actions of this idiot have allowed us to be branded a racist club. This is so annoying because our club is so obviously not racist. It allows the media to deflect attention from the likes of Chelsea and West Ham who are genuinely racist.

 

[DiscoD1882]

To be honest. I’ve been suspicious about this since it was outed. It just didn’t make any sense. The fact it was a banana skin. And not a banana. The fact we have a multi racial team. There doesn’t seem to be a correlation at all. I can fully believe this was just an idiot throwing a banana skin. But the problem here is the media will have their own agenda.