Three weeks ago, Brazil’s latest soccer sensation was at the center of another controversy in regards to the question of race. Santos soccer club/Brazilian national team superstar Neymar (da Silva Santos Júnior) made headlines after he approached an opposing coach and asked if he had made a racial slur against him during a game. Neymar’s image, the complexity of his racial identity, stance against racism and marketability says much about the marketability of black public figures, Brazilian and American. Below is how Rafa Santos reported the incident. BW of Brazil’s comments will follow the article.

Neymar, racism and the question that goes beyond a simple game

Neymar in match against Ituano .

by Rafa Santos “Did you call me a macaco (monkey)?” Neymar asked in images caught on television. The target of the question was the coach of the Ituano team, Roberto Fonseca. The confusion between the two started after the Santos star received a hard entrada by one of the players of the team coached by alleged perpetrator of the insult. Neymar still walked over to the fourth referee of the match, Paulo Estevão Alves da Silva, and complained: “Did you see that? What’s (up with) that? Is that legal? You didn’t see him calling me a monkey?” insisted Santos’ number 11 jersey. In turn, Fonseca retorted: “Are you deaf, boy? Are you deaf?” In an interview with Bandeirantes TV, the fourth official said he didn’t hear Coach Ituano’s alleged racist insult. At halftime, Neymar wasn’t sure of having been called a macaco. “I didn’t understand what he said, so I went back to ask … Then he said I was deaf.” Fonseca was also asked by the press and seemed irritated by the question. “He must be deaf, I said that he is cai cai (fall fall), that he falls all the time. He’s going make a divination too,” he said. Many people will say that Neymar is exaggerating, that he ‘just wants to show off’ or this or that. However, his attitude was the best possible. He went to the supposed speaker of the insults and asked face to face what he said. He wanted to confirm before formally accusing the rival coach. Indeed racism exists in Brazil. It’s a fact. In spite of much of Brazilian society adopting a ‘culture of misunderstanding’, as well defined by Michel Blanco right here on Yahoo! Also please note that Neymar has already been the victim of racism. In 2011 during Brazil’s victory against Scotland by a score of 2-0 he had a banana peel thrown in his direction. The star showed indignation and received support from teammates. Later it was discovered that the perpetrator of the “joke” was a German teenager and the Scottish Federation demanded that Neymar publicly apologize for having ‘offended’ local fans. Number 11 once again did the right thing and refused to apologize … In 2012 Neymar was again the target of bananas, this time wearing a Santos jersey in the Libertadores em La Paz game against the Bolívar team. As if the bananas were not enough, the athlete was also hit by an object thrown by the crowd. The big wigs of Conmebol (tournament organizers) did nothing and Bolívar went to the Copa Libertadores 2013. The team was eliminated by São Paulo. However, I believe that the attacker acted very well to directly confront coach Ituano. If he didn’t hear very well (what was said) he was entitled to ask for a confirmation. Period. Neymar can’t accept that everything is ‘misunderstanding’. He needs to know. He has reason to be bothered and worry about racism. One simply need remember the other cases of racism involving the striker. If the main Brazilian soccer player in activity has suffered with racism on the field …What is the reality of so many other black athletes far from the focus of cameras in Brazil? The question remains…

So, again, the “black blond” bomber tipped off another question of racism on the soccer field. The words black and blond are both in quotes because Neymar once said that he was not “preto” (black) and his blond hair is courtesy of a can. The question of Neymar and race is an intriguing topic for a number of reasons. First, for the previous accusations that he made about being the target of bananas on the field, one of a number of racist practices associating African descendants with monkeys that has plagued black soccer stars around the world for a number of years. Second, as mentioned above, Neymar once said that he was not “preto” (black). And third, he once appeared in a music video with two black Brazilian singers in which all three were dressed in gorilla suits (see our analysis here). And four, Neymar’s affinity for blondness, a dominant standard of beauty in Brazil.

A young Neymar

While Neymar has been straightening his naturally kinky/curly hair for a while and also using blond hair coloring in his Mohawk hairstyle, recently he’s also been seen in photos with blond facial hair as well (1st, 2nd, 3rd photos). When the star posted photos of his one year son online in November of 2012, Brazilians commenting at Holofote (wp.clicrbs.com.br) online participated in quite a debate about the paleness of the child.

Neymar with son and child’s mother

Some people commented on how the child didn’t take after his father too much while others stressed that Neymar’s mixed ancestry was similar to that of many Brazilians. Still others revealed their own family backgrounds as evidence that brown skinned people having lighter-skinned children is normal in Brazil.

Young Neymar with mother, sister and father

Four of Neymar’s enodorsements