What I do know is this - what we perceive is partly the result of what we've gone through in the past. Our filter is a lot of what we see.
Here's the first tweet I got last night.
“@acosta19LA: @MLS @FOXSoccer your racist players 😊 pic.twitter.com/oiFex5Vjz7” RT you catch this @soccercanales ?
— VirtusLuis (@luisftw5) March 5, 2015
@soccercanales @MLS @FOXSoccer "Hey spic, watch it spic"
— VirtusLuis (@luisftw5) March 5, 2015
The next day, I figured that somebody had to have more info, so I asked about it.
@soccercanales What did he say? Any video?
— Tom Marshall (@mexicoworldcup) March 5, 2015
So I retweeted.
.@soccercanales @mexicoworldcup this is ridiculous. Rolfe got SPIT on by an opponent. Arnaud is saying SPIT, not what you think he is.
— Pablo Maurer (@MLSist) March 5, 2015
A DC United player verified one aspect of the debate.
@MLSist @soccercanales @mexicoworldcup I can testify to this as well. Rolfe was spit on.
— Chris Pontius (@ChrisPontius13) March 5, 2015
Meanwhile, I was fielding criticism of my own.
@soccercanales You didn't ask. You accused, pretty much from the first tweet.
— Ben (@beardyblue) March 5, 2015
@soccercanales Speculating that a guy said a racial slur with no clear evidence of it can be pretty damaging to a guy's reputation. Lame.
— Hoops Grind (@HoopsGrind) March 5, 2015
Others still weren't sure what was said.
@osminpena @gokatygo @ChrisPontius13 @MLSist @soccercanales @mexicoworldcup "Hey, you spit! Watch the spit!" is what Davy is saying.
— Donald Wine II (@blazindw) March 5, 2015
@Rob_More @ChrisPontius13 @MLSist @soccercanales @mexicoworldcup what i can read from his lips were spic and wetback to be honest ...
— Edgar Martinez (@ChopGod_10) March 5, 2015
The video got made into a Vine.
@soccercanales here is the video of you haven't seen it https://t.co/o8AZQs8m3m
— Wiso (@WisoVazquez) March 5, 2015
I started to wonder if the racism could be in the eye of the beholder.
@soccercanales That's surprisingly deep but I agree with you. Maybe perceiving things because of past experiences.
— Cesar Hernandez (@cesarhfutbol) March 5, 2015
@soccercanales unfortunately I believe people are too quick to label people or their acts as racist. Hard to tell from the vid exactly....
— Los (@LosDosIsSick) March 5, 2015
@cesarhfutbol @soccercanales exactly, unfortunately as Latinos we can jump quickly to a conclusion when it may/may not be racism based.
— Walter Franco (@thewfranco) March 5, 2015
@chiquitibum1 @cesarhfutbol @soccercanales yep, pretty sure most of us have been told all of the above at some point in our lives
— Walter Franco (@thewfranco) March 5, 2015
Others still aren't sure. The truth is still out there.
@soccercanales true, but clarification of what he said should come out.
— Wiso (@WisoVazquez) March 5, 2015
Meanwhile, here's the story on the game I did watch and write on.
** Update - I got a call from DC United's communications director about my tweets. Apparently the team is looking through video to try to prove the spitting incident by an Alajuela player. Multiple DC players verified to him that it did happen, even if the cameras missed it. He was concerned that my tweeting was putting Arnaud in an unfairly bad light and wanted to remind me to reach out to the team if I have questions like this one in the future.
Honestly, I would have contacted the team if I had gone into this as a story, doing research, but I don't cover MLS as a regular beat any more. Instead, I was reaching out on Twitter to MLS reporters in general, wondering if any followed up on the controversy. I don't regret that, because it opened up some interesting perspectives and I think all the people involved were in general fair about it. Still, it reminded me that as a reporter, even idle questions about stuff on Twitter has ramifications. People will treat what I tweet differently than just a random account, even if it's not directly connected to anything I'm reporting. I guess my point is that sometimes even my limited influence has some effect. I have to stay aware of that.
Finally, though, it's still DC United's version of events being told here in regards to the video. I was contacted by another reporter who is reaching out to Alajuelense. If I get an update on that end, I'll include it here as well.
