It's all fun and games 'til someone gets racist on Twitter...

[renee shah]

Özil reports Twitter user for racial abuse

PEPE ÍÑIGUEZ. Hamburg 06/19/2012

Real Madrid's German international Mesut Özil has reported the owner of a Twitter account for racial abuse, after the player was accused of not being German, according to the Bild newspaper.

The player's lawyer - Sascha Beumer – decided to take legal action after an unknown Twitter user posted messages using a private account during the Denmark-Germany game, stating that the player was not German and criticising his surname – which is of Muslim descent.

"Özil isn't German! A piece of paper doesn't change your origins", were the unknown user’s words in their first message, then adding that nobody with a non-German name should play in the German team.

Soon after, amid the protests - both online and offline -, Twitter decided to block the user's account from where the racist comments came from.

The Real Madrid player's father and agent - Mustafa Özil – totally agreed with his son's decision to report the incident: "it's important to say that you can't get away with saying things like that. This person has overstepped the mark".

Özil – who has played in all three of Germany's games so far in the 2012 Euros – was born in Gelsenkirchen (West Germany), while his parents come from Turkey. The Real Madrid player has always defended his German status.

Comments

[charliechaz.livejournal.com]

...so I am watching the Germany v greece quarter final game right now! During the national anthems I typically i running around just finishing putting my snacks together, but today I skipped my snacks and paid close attention.... the "fair skinned players" all sang along.....the "non-german, german players didn't. (PS put those designations in quotations on purpose)

Was this a coincidence or is the divide between who sings and who doesn't sing related to race as well as age? I mean these players (and their living families) weren't around when all that madness was going on. Is there an enduring legacy around the anthem (or at least the third stanza) that stops even young people (or first generation citizens) from singing along?

Long post,,but I am a dark skinned african american. Despite America's racial history, there isn't much "to do" about symbols of the country's history (confederate flag aside) for today's youth or first gen children.