MIBR fine fer over racially-charged stream comments
MIBR have released a statement in Portuguese addressing comments that Fernando "fer" Alvarenga made while streaming, and fined the player an undisclosed amount.
The translated statement is as follows:
It is generally easy and convenient to make statements about the need for more equality and racial justice; it is difficult, as time has proven, to have actions that support these words. One of the greatest obstacles to progress is when those who seek a deeper integration of equality are afraid to be honest, transparent and direct about their own fallibility, and to confront their mistakes and ignorance directly so that we can see real change.
Why will things be different this time? Perhaps things are different because the need for progress is so acute and, for the first time, so genuinely understood by so many, that confronting one's own prejudices or ignorance seems a first step towards a more realistic understanding, and from that understanding there can be real progress.
fer, one of our players, made a mistake. He was wrong. He made comments in his stream that do not reflect our values and, we believe, that also do not reflect his values. While fer is also seen in his broadcast supporting the fight against racism and racial equality, he is also shown making comments about "good and bad hair". In context, these comments can be interpreted as having prejudiced tones. We all know that, sometimes, language or phrases have, if taken to the extreme, a set of implications or meanings disconnected from the speaker's intention. However, it cannot be an excuse to hide behind it. fer knows and recognizes that this type of language feeds a narrative that is wrong and deeply damaging. Instead of hiding, he faced the problem and apologized.
We will impose a fine on fer for his comments, and we will work with him to choose organizations that promote racial equality. The amount of his fine will be allocated to these institutions.
We are also sharing this with the community, because it is only by being truly open and vulnerable to mistakes that individuals and groups can really learn and grow together. Just as we develop physically through hard training, sometimes painfully, we can only develop as an equal society by doing hard work to improve. It is not acceptable for all pain to be borne by the oppressed while the oppressor hides.
MIBR hopes that the whole community will be able to learn and grow through this incident and recognize that even though we support equality and racial justice, we also sometimes make mistakes and end up contributing to the problem. We must use these moments to grow together.
The "good and bad hair" comments are apparently a reference to the more coarse and "undesirable" hair that is often seen in Brazilians who possess more African ascentry, as opposed to smoother, "good" hair that people with less African ancestry possess. In the clip he also shows both middle fingers to the camera and makes comments that were potentially insensitive to the LGBTQ community as well.
The timing for controversial remarks like these could hardly be worse for fer and MIBR, as the United States and world are in the midst of protesting racial inequalities following George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. Additionally, June is Pride month for LGBTQ individuals and allies.
In addition to the fine, fer released an apology video (also in Portuguese) of his own.
MIBR currently sit atop Group A of the BLAST Premier Spring 2020 Showdown after securing wins over FURIA and Gen.G, and tying with Chaos. The team are also still in the running in DreamHack Masters Spring 2020, where their next match will be against Cloud9 on June 12th.
