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Pablo Matera declared war on South Africa when he tweeted that it was a good day to get in a car and run over black people. He should be expelled from this country, writes Mark Keohane for “Keo’s Corner” on IOL Sport.
The tweets posted between 2011 and 2013 by current Argentine rugby captain Pablo Matera were vile.
Matera, who was in South Africa at the time, bragged about getting into a car and driving on blacks.
He despised Bolivians and Paraguayans, calling them “black” because he believed that they were all criminals and people with little education and, if so, they had to be “black.”
Matera was 20 years old when she wrote these posts.
‘SOUTH AFRICA baby! I’m finally leaving this country full of blacks ouch ‘, reads a tweet.
Another yelled, “Today is a good day to get in the car and pass over the blacks.”
When the tweets resurfaced in the Argentine media this week, Argentine rugby chiefs immediately stripped Matera of his captaincy, suspended him from Saturday’s Test against Australia and declared an investigation.
Two other Pumas players were suspended for tweets related to discrimination and xenophobia.
Matera, who led the Pumas to a first victory against the All Blacks a fortnight ago, apologized on Instagram and said he regretted everyone who was offended by the ‘atrocities’ and would take responsibility for what he wrote.
As?
His teammates opposed his suspension and threatened to strike if he and his two teammates were not reinstated as captain and teammates, respectively.
One day after the Pumas bosses publicly condemned any instance of ‘hate speech’ and apparently deemed it ‘unacceptable for anyone expressing those views to represent our country’, Matera is once again available to lead the Pumas.
The reaction in South Africa on rugby social media platforms has been particularly insane, given the support Matera has had and how his hate speech, discrimination and racism has been excused as the alleged ‘ramblings’ of a 20-year-old. and a ‘mistake’ made seven years ago.
‘Forgive and forget’ has been a common theme, along with the question of what he did really wrong.
Reading the reaction was sad because of how deeply rooted the prejudice remains in our country when it comes to not seeing what Matera wrote really badly.
The words he shared in the most public world forum were his feelings and beliefs. They were not an error in judgment on the rugby field, taking the tackle when it should have happened, missing a tackle when it should have made one, giving away a penalty when it should have been more disciplined.
Matera was right when she told the world, unsolicited and in her own words, that she wanted to get in a car and walk over black people. He wanted to kill the blacks in South Africa and he was eager to get out of South Africa because of the blacks in South Africa.
That is not the mistake of a naive young man. That is a public declaration of war.
He should never be allowed to return to South Africa, whether he is a Pumas captain or not.
Matera, in his apology, this week, wrote that ‘at that moment I could never imagine who I would become’, which is the captain of the Argentine rugby team.
What he is unapologetic about is what it was like when he felt it was natural to want to kill blacks in South Africa.
He does not speak or attempt to explain what, at the age of 20, it made him so comfortable to share his hatred of blacks, Bolivians and anyone from Paraguay so easily.
What has changed in your thinking, why has it changed and what are you doing to lead the fight against discrimination, xenophobia and racism?
Matera’s response did not address anything and his reinstatement a day after his suspension also did not address anything in the fight against racism and discrimination.
