With the cancel culture, sometimes the banter culture taking full effect on social media, people find themselves walking on eggshells before they can put something out for the world to see.
This is particularly dreadful for public figures and celebrities whose words can be easily misconstrued and taken out of context. And once this happens, it becomes irrelevant what their true intentions were whether they posted what they did as a mere joke, or there was some malicious intent to it. All that matters is that the public will be gunning for their pound of flesh.
Manchester United forward Edinson Cavani is the latest candidate of a careless social media post. While his intentions towards the post he made is yet unknown, he used the term”negrito” – which translates as little black person and can be interpreted as racist – to a friend after scoring twice in the 3-2 win in Southampton on November 29.
He is currently facing a ban after he was charged by the English Football Association for what they have called “insulting and improper” language on his Instagram page. If found guilty, he would be hit with a 3-game ban.
The term negrito, just like; nigga, has become a term of endearment in many South American countries, but amongst people of colour which Cavani is not. Cavani is in fact from Uruguay, a South American country, the word is still regarded to carrying racial connotations, even in the Afro Uruguayan community.
Cavani has since deleted the post and has issued an apology, but still has till January Monday 4, 2021, to give a response to the charge.
Sources have told ESPN that in Cavani’s representations to the FA, he insisted the word is not used with racial or derogatory intent in Uruguay and that the friend in question uses the term with his own son.
Manchester United have reiterated their stand against racism following the incident, but have also defended Cavani, stating that they were clear that there was absolutely no malicious intent behind the message.
For Chinedu Okafor, its all about making an impact with words, creating a profound impression on the audience with the intended narrative.
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