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If I were an old man responsible for managing Team USA's public image, I would be cursing Twitter every day of the week. Apparently, giving young, bold athletes instant access to media was a cruel joke orchestrated by both fate and Mother Nature. At any rate, the latest athlete to embarrass himself with his Twitter account was Danny Granger. Making reference to the fact that deodorant is not as popular in Europe as it is in the United States, Granger said that Europeans smell like "dead donkeys." Here are his exact words:
"i'm dying over here ..how come nobody in europe wears deodorant? guess they didn't get the memo – smellin like dead donkey..no joke"
On his day job, Danny Granger plays for the Indianapolis Pacers. Apparently, he hasn't been given enough media training to know that this is not the kind of thing to say in public. It is also disrespectful to people from other cultures, and likely reflective of a man who hasn't been exposed to very much in his life. He's 27 years old, so one would hope that, by now, he'd seen enough to know that people from different places are going to have different norms.
Granger's comment has infuriated people from Turkey. Additionally, Granger's comment fails to respect the sensitive nature of international competition. When you compete overseas, you are an ambassador for your nation, so these kinds of insults are uncalled for. I am sure NBA Commissioner David Stern is also wondering how Granger's remarks are going to affect the NBA's European fan base.
Note to Danny Granger: Keep your Twitter account quiet. Also, remember that while you are calling Europeans dead donkeys, they probably have a lot to say about black people. In fact, if a European player had said, "Black people smell like dead donkeys," we'd be absolutely furious.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. 
Comments: (23)
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By: antonio on 9/03/2010 1:52PM
If they stink they stink. They need to know that their hygiene or lack there of is offensive.
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By: mort on 9/06/2010 7:47PM
ROFL@dead donkeys tho? why dead donkeys? lmaooo
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By: Belizebound on 9/03/2010 9:00PM
Lawd 'a mercy! Home training...nuff said.
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By: Sedated on 9/03/2010 9:12PM
Anyone smellin' strong enough to make you have to say something deserves to know how their lack of hygene disgusts people. there have been anti perspirants and deodorants available for use for a hundred years. There is no excuse for walking around smelling like a goat! Good that Danny said something. Who cares if you insult someone that truly stinks? They just insulted you by being a dirtbag, and subjecting you to their funk.
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By: Dark gable on 9/04/2010 1:52AM
True or not let's show the sensitivity that we ask the world to show us Black people! If some one had used monkey to refer to a black person here we would be pissed off! Right?
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By: rasfanta on 9/04/2010 11:23AM
white people can't say this about Black people because we have always been a cleaner people than them, even when we had no water or dirty water to bathe with. in europe, there is a certain liking for a funky-smelling body,
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By: rob on 9/05/2010 6:53PM
Are you retarded. I went to a mostly black school, last period was in an auditorium right after p.e. and the black guys never used deodorant and I had to hold my breath because the stench was so bad it made me gag. Even when I did carpet cleaning when we went to blacks homes the stains were so bad from being barefoot we had a hard time even getting some of the stains out.It was never like that at other homes of any other race, period. You've gotta be kidding me with that ignorant comment !!
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By: rasfanta on 9/05/2010 9:09PM
@ROB. Look a-hole, you are a lier. You are the father of the lie. You never been out of america. You are not around european people and know nothing about them because your class does not allow you to be in the company of people from europe. I have experience and exposure to them and I know, for a fact, that they STINK!!!!!!!!
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By: MigThor on 9/06/2010 7:57AM
Most of us have learned not to generalize, yet we see many, mostly Whites, who do. In my experience, and I've worked with internationals at the amusement park and in Detroit and Ann Arbor, I've come across Europeans and Africans (not all of them) who didn't appear to wash and use deodorant or anti perspirant. I think it is a cultural thing as the Dr. says. If I'm not mistaken, that perfume and deodorant we wear contains skunk oils to make it stronger which may be offensive in itself. And I've also come across some Blacks who seem to try to fit in with Whites by degrading fellow Blacks and Europeans. For example, a brother who sees an afro wearing brotha whom he knows, may ignore the brotha whenever he's around Whites.
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By: Paul Holmes on 9/06/2010 8:35AM
The more I think about it.........Damn, that pisses me off big time. I say just send his butt back home NOW!! Let him miss the rest of the damn games!!!!!! I don't care.......there ARE things you don't say publicly ......and moreso when you're representing your family.....and your race......and your country!!!!! It's such an honor to be on the team in the first place........then you go & say some stuff like that.....in public at that......DURING the damn tournament at that.....while IN the folks own country at that!!! No way, Jose`!!!! Send his butt home NOW!!!!
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