Racism in Soccer
Racism has been one of the greatest embarrassments in European Soccer for many years. For years, black players have endured taunting and racist chants from bigots in the crowd. Just last week, Gabonese Striker Pierre Emerick Aubameyang had a banana peel thrown at him by the rival supporters after he scored. This happened in England, where racism is not as vile as it is in other regions in Europe. The Russian premier league is notorious for their supporters racist antics. Players of color have been known to refuse to play there because of all the abuse hurled at players.
However, the most potent form of racism in soccer dont stem from blatantly racist supporters. These racist supporters are fairly easy to eradicate from the game through bans and arrests. This most dangerous form of racism stems from mainstream microaggressions. We learned about microaggressions in class in Critical Race Theory. Essentially, it is the idea that you are treated differently because of your race, often subconsciously. The place where microaggressions are the most common iin soccer s in the media.
This first headline surrounds a white teenage soccer player:
This next headline, from the same newspaper, surrounds a black teenage soccer player:
The difference between the two headlines is alarming. Delving into the articles, it only polarizing the stuations more and more. While initiatives such as "kick it out" are focusing on blatant racist supporters, they maybe should be focusing on the media instead.
This is an incredibly interesting topic. It is fascinating that the core issue of racism within European soccer is not the blatant fans but rather the subconscious microaggressions. This is an incredibly difficult issue to solve because microaggressions can only be altered if one is aware of them, and this requires a higher level of education. However, the mainstream media is educated enough to alter their rhetoric in an attempt to reduce racist sentiments.
ReplyDeleteI had heard about the kind of racist things that go on sometimes during European soccer matches, particularly the banana peel thing. I don't really know how to find an issue to this even though I wish I could. At this point I think that just bnning people isn't enough, there will always be other people there to taunt you. It's more of an issue deeply engrained in their culture.
ReplyDeleteI remember hearing about something similar with Dani Alves Kabir. While Dani Alves, a Brazilian soccer player, was playing at Barcelona about to take a corner kick when a banana was thrown at him. He dealt with the situation amazingly even though he should have never had to go through something like that. He grabbed the banana, ate it and then through it back into the crowd and proceeded to send a corner kick for a goal. These microaggressions that you describe I feel have an influence on supporters and their images of minorities hence why they throw bananas and such at the players. Quite unfortunate.
ReplyDeleteWow, I had no idea that racism was such a big issue in European soccer. The difference in the headlines reminds me of the darkening of OJ's face on the Times magazine. The media has a really negative and potentially dangerous way of depicting men of color. where we consistently see demonization of these men in headlines and covers to create a better story, and almost to create feeling of resent and fear. Additionally, when people are riled up and angry, such as at sports games that they are passionate about, they turn to racist chants and insults, like what you said in your blog, and that reveals an issue that goes further than sports- people are racist inside, and sports ignites them to express that in hurtful ways towards the players.
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