This soccer player responded perfectly to a racist fan throwing a banana at him

(Image credit: YouTube/Dani Alves)

last updated 8 January 2015

Barcelona defender Dani Alves conducted a master class this weekend in dealing with racist soccer fans. During yesterday's game against Villarreal, a jerk spouted a racist remark and threw a banana at the Brazilian-born Alves, who has suffered monkey chants from abusive fans in the past. Alvez responded by coolly picking up the banana and eating it.

After the match, Alves said the best way to negate racism is to use humor. "We have suffered this in Spain for some time," Alves said, per the Associated Press. "You have to take it with a dose of humor. We aren't going to change things easily." --Jordan Valinsky

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Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.

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