Greece’s Education Minister Niki Kerameus was quick to fire an educator who called Greek basketball star Giannis Antetokounmpo a “monkey” in a Tweet.
The professor, Konstantinos Kalemis, the coordinator for refugee education in the Malakassa camp north of Athens, called Antetokounmpo a “monkey” on Twitter after the 2019 NBA Most Valuable Player denounced racism in Greek society.
He deleted the Tweets but, like anything on the internet, screenshots resurfaced immediately as various social media users demanded his resignation.
“We unequivocally condemn the racist and highly offensive messages of this educator. Such behavior has no place in our education system,” Kerameus tweeted.
In the documentary, on American website Bleacher Report, Antetokounmpo said: “Greece is a country of whites, where the life of a man of my skin colour can be difficult. You can find yourself in different neighbourhoods and face a lot of racism.”
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2 comments
The Greeks have managed to destroy their nation all by themselves, slowly economically and even to some extent with demographics. To strike back by firing an individual who sees the stupidity for the sake of sport…there is something to being a Greek and you just don’t become one for the sake of basketball, LOL! That is why for business people travel to Istanbul, Greeks included…Maybe one day in another time Athens will return, but not in my lifetime! or maybe ever! Adding a Greek first name doesn’t make you Greek! Giannis Antetokounmpo, really!
Yes, George, Really! Giannis Antetokounmpo is as much a Greek as you, and has probably done as much, if not more, to lift the spirit of the people of Greece than you. Greeks have not always been blond and blue-eyed as you may think. Rather, in antiquity, throughout the ages, in the Balkans, Near and Far East, and North Africa, itself, they have come in all sizes, shapes, colors, and names. To answer the question as to how one becomes a Greek. I submit it has more to do with embracing the spirit of Hellenism in all its manifestations than to having been born with a surname ending in “S”