Spain’s Calderon: “Racist” photo was a “bad mistake”

Remember the brouhaha caused during the Olympics by the Spanish basketball team’s “racist” photo? At the time, team member and Toronto Raptors player Jose Calderon tried to show contrition by noting that “some of my best friends in Toronto are from China.” Now he has gone a step further in asking for forgiveness:

"It was a mistake, a bad mistake," the Raptor guard said of the picture, which showed members of the Spanish national team pulling back the corners of their eyes. "We weren't meaning to do anything hurtful, I take that like a lesson. ... I wanted to tell the people what I am, I've never had that problem before in my life and it will never happen again."

Calderon sent emails in the last week or so to more than 100 fans who wrote him to say they were hurt by the picture.

"I wrote to the people who really cared about it, the people who emailed me and people who really thought I was saying something bad," he said. "It was a bad mistake, I wanted to tell them."

Calderon’s contrition appears sincere enough since he’s been remorseful ever since the controversy began. Yet as a cynic I cannot help but wonder how if this has anything to do with Spain’s bid for the 2016 Games.

(Hat tip: Deadspin).

Image- Guardian UK

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Deadspin, Torontoist, TheStar.com, Typically Spanish