While going after Stewart Regan for his online behaviour is worthwhile, there is a greater evil that needs to be addressed by the Rangers Trust. Now it is time to turn on the racists that pollute cyber space. The racism we fear surfacing at the Euros 2012 is already sadly all too present in Scottish football, with Rangers players Kyle Bartley, Maurice Edu, El Hadji Diouf and Sone Aluko having to take the brunt of vile cyber bigots. All four have all been victims of racists via their online Twitter accounts.
The club has quite rightly reported these racist comments to the police, but we wait with an almost resigned air to see what good it will do. Again, this has not received the coverage this type of behaviour merits. Swept under the carpet by a media in Scotland whose reputation amongst Rangers supporters is at an all-time low, it is clear that the Scottish Government and the mainstream media is soft on racism, and one-sided in its targeting of offensive behaviour.
We shall wait and see if these Twitter racists ever see the inside of a court room and if the press in Scotland give this story a high enough profile. If Rangers fans were responsible, then the headlines and moral outrage would be heard the length and breadth of the country, but because the abuse is directed against players that represent Rangers, it is seen in a different light.
With debate in England over the alleged racist abuse from John Terry towards Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand, the question has to be asked why racism is not seen as a problem by the Scottish Football authorities.
Sadly what is feared may happen in Poland and the Ukraine is the reality of playing in Scotland for many black Rangers players, and it is not a new problem – in January 1988, Mark Walters became the first black player to turn out for Rangers, the venue Celtic Park, when the home support threw bananas and taunted Walters with monkey chants. A quick check of YouTube makes sickening viewing. The abuse he was subjected to that day ended any notion that, while Scottish football was blighted by religious bigotry, it was at least immune to the hateful expressions of racial intolerance. Nothing was done then, and sadly we see the fruits of that inactivity today.
When we watch the Euros and hope that racism does not raise its ugly head, we should look closer to home and may find that the truth hurts.
http://rangersthefallandrise.wordpress.com/
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A club whose fans chant the “famine song” should clean up their own act before pointing the finger at others
Finding your articles hilarious Cyberted.
Happy Liquidation Day!!
What a disgrace. A poorly constructed ‘argument’ in terms of your grammatical capabilities and your use of allegations instead of fact. One idiot out of 60,000 fans was arrested for his moronic racist gestures towards Diouf. Edu and Bartley have no received any such gestures from the Celtic support. You conveniently fail to relfect on the fact that Edu famously tweeted about the racist abuse he was subjected to by Rangers supporters.
The Irish community in Scotland is the largest ethnic minority in the land. Our club’s support and players have been targeted by your support’s racist abuse since the very first Glasgow derby. It’s about time your support cleaned your own act up before you tried to tarnish our glowing reputation. Our reputation won us the FIFA Fair Play Fans award, an award which only 2 other clubs have received. Your support has been renowned for your far-right hooligan connections in Europe.
In my humble opinion, a club at which the BNP felt comfortable to canvas at a home game has a big problem. I’m proud that at Celtic games you will find ALERTA Refugee network fundraisers and Anti-Fascist Action members campaigning every week.