I can’t help but frankly think “what is going on?” It has been three weeks since Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra had their misunderstanding and it seems like it may simply be passed off as lost in translation, according to tweets from Dan Walker last week. Further still, it seems as if the uproar and commotion around John Terry and Anton Ferdinand is finally settling down, but no conclusion has been reached as of yet.
But if comments such as “we’ve come so far from when I first joined Watford” from Luther Blissett a fortnight ago, are to believed, then happenings such as Saturday’s abuse of former Newcastle and England u-20 international Richard Offiong should surely be isolated incidents. It isn’t though. The second half of October was supposed to be a two week “Kick it Out” campaign, yet two high-profile incidents of racism were covered in the media. What won’t be covered is Blyth Spartan striker Offiong’s abuse.
Immediately after his side’s 2-2 draw against Colwyn Bay the 27-year-old took to Twitter in a frustrated rage, “do I report the racist abuse or brush it off? It will never affect me but do I take a stand?” He was referencing the alleged abuse he received from a player he identified as McEverley, a striker for the Welsh opposition, “”where’s your bunch of bananas” “show me your passport” that’s what were up against.” It’s unlikely this will reach the mainstream media though, as one follower pointed out, “the media won’t mention it as you’re not a household name.”
With racism like this still existing in the game it is no surprise that there are only two black managers in the entire Football League, Chris Hughton and Chris Powell. It was one of the issues raised during the Kick it Out campaign and it was one that sparked quite a reaction.
Should British football bring in the Rooney Rule?
Fans commented that black people weren’t a minority, that you can’t just enforce clubs to hire black coaches and the controversy surrounding the topic was echoed in the views of professionals.
“It’s a can of worms. It’s deeply unfashionable these days to say that any disadvantaged group deserves a leg-up. It’s reverse discrimination,” said Hugh Muir, a Guardian editor, and his sentiments were resonated by Jason Euell, “I don’t want the authorities to say ‘there aren’t enough black coaches, let’s push them through.’ I want a fair crack of the whip.”
I don’t think we will ever stamp out racism and thats a great shame in whats supposed to be a modern and diverse country. There are too many reasons why it will never disappear to go into but fundamentally humans dont have it in themselves to accept everyone as an equal. Sad state of affairs.
Good article which might make some people look inwardly at themselves.
Mike that is a bit defeatist look at how far we have already come with tackling prejudice. It takes time for values to change as attitudes change across generations not overnight. Yes racism still occurs in the game from time to time and of course there are still many battles to be fought to tackle sexism and homophobia and to get more Asian players in english football etc but football is more tolerant than it has ever been even if attitudes in the game lag behind society as a whole.
I prefer to think i’m a realist. Look at all the wars going on across the globe, its 2011 and mankind is still trying to kill itself because of prejudices. We as a species have hardly evolved, all we have learnt is how to be more hateful to one another and how to kill each other in more advanced ways. Racism is everywhere and in every form. Even when we have tried to stamp it out we have gone so far that we have ended up positively discriminating.
That is where the debate over the Rooney Rule is. Roberts thinks it is a good idea because he argues that he has experienced, through his family, rejections when there was no qualification deficit; whilst Jason Euell thinks its a bad idea because it is suggesting he should have an advantage because he is black.
I’m not making a stereotype here, but having played in an Asian football team (as a non-Asian) I found that my team mates, no matter how good they were, were unlikely to ever play football at a high level for several reasons.
Firstly, his parents had high expectations of him to go through university and work in the city. He also expressed that he felt isolated playing in other leagues as he was often the only Indian in a team and he was often questioned on why he even played football.
Having a lack of role models and the myth that he isn’t going to play football purely because he is Indian, the expectation was he should play cricket, led to him setting up his own team that was predominantly Asian.
It is the mini-cultures or hubs of minorities that prevent full inclusion into the game, but it is something that has equal blame on both parts.
Some are channeled at an early age into other sports out of tradition, some have academic priorities and also they don’t see career paths in the sport. How many Asians do you see in key roles in football?
The team I played with were a really nice bunch of lads that were talented footballers, but I experienced first hand, being on a side that received racist remarks on more than one occasion.
For my friend it was much easier for him to set up his own team and play in an Asian league. His team now travel all over England just to play other Asian teams to avoid the racism and unfriendliness.
Mike – I don’t agree at all the world is more peaceful than it has ever been despite the conflict that does exist. Only 100 years ago war was seen as a necessary state by those with power, now clearly it is globally recognised that it is best avoided. Regardless of differences between countries the value put on human life is higher than ever before.
In most developed nations it is almost universally accepted that we are all born equal regardless of our differences and this is backed up by law. Whereas in the past society was organised in a way that clearly accepted that some had a greater value than others (admittedly this is still true in some countries today e.g Afghanistan).
Jordan – I agree that there are a variety of factors why British Asians are so underepresented in english football. However when there are only a couple in playing in the whole football league you have to consider more than just their own aspirations. Clearly prejudice is a major barrier as you mention with your comment on racism against the Asian team and the fact this made them feel forced to play in an Asian league.