When Brazilian footballer Dani Alves was made the victim of a Spanish racist insult, he took matters into his own hands.

At an away game on Sunday, a fan in the stands threw a banana onto the pitch in front of Alves. The implication was that darker-skinned Alves was a monkey.

“There is racism against foreigners,” Alves said of Spain. “They sell the country as being first world but in certain things they are very backward.”

In an on-the-spot response to the fan, Alves picked up the banana, peeled it, and took a bite. Sports and news stations ran the clip of Alves calmly handing the insult back the other way again and again.

But Alves did not stop there.

Even though the fan that committed the offense has been banned from games there for life, Alves used the opportunity to highlight the problem of racism everywhere. He started a social media campaign using the hashtag #weareallmonekys (We Are All Monkeys). Fans around the world have responded, posting photos of themselves eating bananas.

France and Monaco defender Eric Abidal backs his good friend Dani Alves: #weareallmonkeys #SayNoToRacism pic.twitter.com/jHC88CxZFR

— Oluwashina Okeleji (@oluwashina) April 29, 2014

#totssommicos #weareallmonkeys @tribucatradio pic.twitter.com/bLNgR0BMlA

— Carles Xuriguera (@xuriguera) April 29, 2014

Some people think that this is a misguided attempt at combatting racism, since the word “monkey” is so offensive.

I don't know what to say about this #weareallmonkeys business, except I have no desire to reclaim the word monkey

— Reni Eddo-Lodge (@renireni) April 29, 2014

Monkey as a slur is probably the basest, most vicious form of anti-blackness around. Depicts us as subhuman.

— Reni Eddo-Lodge (@renireni) April 29, 2014

Image via YouTube