Interviewer’s rugby accent gaffe ’hurtful, tiresome’
THE race relations commissioner is condemning Sky Sport presenter Joe Wheeler for imitating a Japanese accent during a live broadcast.
Meng Foon said such off-hand comments and racist microaggressions could stack up and become hurtful.
Wheeler has faced intense criticism for the way he talked about a Japanese Highlanders player after the team’s Super Rugby win over the Crusaders on Friday night.
‘‘He was leally impressive, wasn’t he? He was leally, leally good,’’ Wheeler asked Mitchell Hunt about the performance of
Hunt’s Highlanders team-mate Kazuki Himeno.
Wheeler later apologised online.
Foon said mocking anyone’s accent or language was hurtful to those people.
‘‘These sorts of comments are best not heard nowadays. There’s a huge sensitivity on racism issues now going forward, and I know the younger generation is definitely not tolerating this.’’
Someone who laughed a comment off could be hurting underneath.
‘‘All the micro-aggressions that accumulate, even though they may be small, they do become quite tiresome and hurtful to the people receiving them, so these new microaggressions need to stop,’’ Foon said.
Massey University professor Paul Spoonley, who researches racism, said humour was a difficult area.
‘‘I would have thought we’re sensitised to how offensive mocking somebody by using a fake accent is.
‘‘Also I guess in this day and age, why would anybody think that it’s OK?’’
Although some viewers would have thought there was nothing wrong with it, rugby was an international game and New Zealand was an incredibly diverse country, Spoonley said.
Wheeler apologised on Twitter shortly after the incident and said he stuffed up. He said he had spoken to Himeno and apologised to him and the team.
Himeno replied to the tweet, accepting the apology.
‘‘It’s ok joe. Let’s enjoy and celebrate our big victory. Let’s go landers!!’’