WASHINGTON, D.C.: The National Federation of Filipino American Associations (Naffaa) on Monday urged sport governing bodies to censure Floyd Mayweather Jr. for his racist and homophobic rant against Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao.
“We call on the National Boxing Association and state athletic commissions to censure Mayweather for behavior that is both abhorrent and demeaning to boxing fans and to the whole world of sports,” said Naffaa Chairman Greg Macabenta.
Macabenta also called on the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to reprimand the American boxing star “for insulting people of color.”
“We are further asking all civil rights organizations to stand in solidarity with us in denouncing this racist and homophobic rant.
Mayweather’s apology is unacceptable and he must be made accountable for his damaging statements,” Macabenta said.
Macabenta pointed out that Mayweather’s “cruel, abusive and hurtful” remarks could stoke more hostility, derision and resentment against minorities like Filipinos and other ethnic groups at a time when immigrant communities are being viewed with increasing suspicion and mistrust.
“Coming from a boxing celebrity with millions of fans around the world, Mayweather’s shameless and reckless conduct unfairly paints an entire racial and ethnic group with a broad brush and seriously undermines America’s core values of inclusivity and racial tolerance,” added the head of Naffaa, the umbrella organization of various Filipino groups across the United States.
Mayweather called Pacquiao a “whore,” a “little yellow chump” and a “midget” several times in a 10-minute video which is widely circulating on the Internet.
The unbeaten boxing star also said he will force Pacquiao to “make some sushi rolls and cook some rice” and “we’re going to cook him with some cats and dogs.”
“We are outraged by Mayweather’s racially offensive remarks,” Macabenta said. “This disgusting diatribe against Pacquiao is a racial slur against all Filipinos and Filipino Americans and an embarrassment not only to the boxing community but to all Americans.”
Pacquiao said Mayweather was just trying to draw attention and could actually be helping promote the Filipino icon’s coming fight against Antonio Margarito, another boxer Mayweather refused to fight.
Even respected boxing writers were turned off by what they called Mayweather’s “senseless” rant.
“The video depicts Mayweather as a short-sighted, small-minded man who doesn’t have the attention span of a three-year-old,” wrote the highly respected sportswriter Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports.
Rep. Winston Castelo of Quezon City, meanwhile, filed a measure warning against the recurrence of similar racists attacks in the future.
In a House Resolution, Castelo said it was “as contemptuous for any foreign national to issue irresponsible racist remarks against any of its members and to any of our country as a whole.”
“This racist tirade sent by Floyd Mayweather is an affront to the Filipino people and the very institution to which Honorable Manny ‘PacMan’ Pacquaio belongs,” the resolution stated.
Castelo also said that the problem with Mayweather is that he had not foreseen the “irreparable damage done” as a subject of the tirade.
Further, Castelo warned Mayweather that he could be declared as persona non grata if and when he send the country another blow.
Source: http://www.manilatimes.net
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