by Staff writer
A picture of a Croatian football supporter covertly giving his Nigerian fellow the middle finger while they smiled and posed together for a photograph has sparked online outrage for its racist tone.
Nigeria lost 2 – 0 to Croatia on Saturday night at their opening game.
Responding to the question “Is there racism in Croatia?“, Alex Spencer wrote:
“Yes! There is racism in Croatia, and it is pandemic.
“During the season, it’s veiled. The influx of tourist funds seems to miraculously placate the locals, but even then it’s blatantly obvious. The racists are usually smart enough not to bite the hands that feed them, but once the offending tourist steps away it can get really ugly.
“In the winter, it is far less veiled. It seems most obvious when a Croatian brings home a Serbian, Albanian, or Montenegrin partner. It’s also highly prevalent when a Croatian brings home a black, South American, or South Asian partner.”
Deks Dean sort of disagrees:
“No [There is no racism in Croatia].
“In fact, racism is close to impossible in Croatia since Croatians “turn black” every Summer after vacation. Some Croatians spend so much time on the beach out in the sun that they have darker skin compared to some African Americans living in Zagreb.
“This is really a unique country where people even compliment each other for getting a great sun tan. Can you imagine someone saying: “Wow, you’ve blackened so beautifully! Where did you get such a great colored tan?” It’s almost like shopping, asking where they bought colored skin.
“If someone is not used to this, they might get the wrong idea that Croatians have a problem with skin color. In Croatia, Black is Beautiful. In USA, this is impossible. People might object to talk about skin color this way.
“In Asia, everyone wants to become pale white. In Croatia, it’s the opposite.”
