Chris in London
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 21 Sep 2009
- Messages
- 13,259
Re: Michel Platini.....taxi please
One of the things I am very proud of is the way in this country that racism has been made completely unacceptable socially. Of course it still happens here, there are racist incidents in and out of football. John terry was invovled - allegedly - in one. Suarez was invovled in another.
But the prevailing culture in the UK is that racism is not acceptable. Like drink driving, it has taken a long time to change the mentality that it was fine to be racist, and racism stille exists, but what was once considered normal and unremarkable is now rightly regarded as completely wrong. Some interesting research has been done which suggests that those who now display racist tendencies now know full well that society generally regards this as unacceptable, but they just don't give a shit.
Changing deep rooted prejudices like racism takes time and patience and persistence. Punishment is important in this regard. The courts started coming down heavy on drink drivers, and did so consistently over a long period of time. Over time attitudes changed.
This is true of racism in football too. You just do not hear racist chanting at football grounds in the English Premier League. Not so long ago, bananas were thrown onto the pitch. but there has been a long, patient, consistent campaign to educate football fans that racism has no place in society. There are still racists who attend football games, but they tend to keep their shit to themselves.
The attitude of the English FA to racism is interesting when compared with UEFA's. For using racist language against one player for a comparatively short period in a single game, Luis Suarez was fined £40,000 and banned for 8 games. Compare that fine against one individual with the paltry sum UEFA fined FC Porto - the entire club, not an individual - for the disgusting racism to which Yaya Toure and Mario Balotelli were exposed. You know what? City were fined more than Porto, for being 1 minute late coming out onto the pitch. To my mind, that suggests that UEFA are more worried about sticking to the TV schedules than stamping out racism.
So when people say UEFA could start by looking like they give a shit, this is the sort of thing they mean. Do the people who take part in open and co-ordinated acts of racism like the Dutch team were subjected to actually understand that right-thinking people generally regard racism as appalling? Such open displays lead me to think that they do not. Do they live in a culture in which open racism is deemed acceptable? If they do not, why do they feel able to act in an openly racist way without fear of consequences?
If UEFA started taking racism more seriously, these people might not feel so free to peddle their shit.
dazdon said:
One of the things I am very proud of is the way in this country that racism has been made completely unacceptable socially. Of course it still happens here, there are racist incidents in and out of football. John terry was invovled - allegedly - in one. Suarez was invovled in another.
But the prevailing culture in the UK is that racism is not acceptable. Like drink driving, it has taken a long time to change the mentality that it was fine to be racist, and racism stille exists, but what was once considered normal and unremarkable is now rightly regarded as completely wrong. Some interesting research has been done which suggests that those who now display racist tendencies now know full well that society generally regards this as unacceptable, but they just don't give a shit.
Changing deep rooted prejudices like racism takes time and patience and persistence. Punishment is important in this regard. The courts started coming down heavy on drink drivers, and did so consistently over a long period of time. Over time attitudes changed.
This is true of racism in football too. You just do not hear racist chanting at football grounds in the English Premier League. Not so long ago, bananas were thrown onto the pitch. but there has been a long, patient, consistent campaign to educate football fans that racism has no place in society. There are still racists who attend football games, but they tend to keep their shit to themselves.
The attitude of the English FA to racism is interesting when compared with UEFA's. For using racist language against one player for a comparatively short period in a single game, Luis Suarez was fined £40,000 and banned for 8 games. Compare that fine against one individual with the paltry sum UEFA fined FC Porto - the entire club, not an individual - for the disgusting racism to which Yaya Toure and Mario Balotelli were exposed. You know what? City were fined more than Porto, for being 1 minute late coming out onto the pitch. To my mind, that suggests that UEFA are more worried about sticking to the TV schedules than stamping out racism.
So when people say UEFA could start by looking like they give a shit, this is the sort of thing they mean. Do the people who take part in open and co-ordinated acts of racism like the Dutch team were subjected to actually understand that right-thinking people generally regard racism as appalling? Such open displays lead me to think that they do not. Do they live in a culture in which open racism is deemed acceptable? If they do not, why do they feel able to act in an openly racist way without fear of consequences?
If UEFA started taking racism more seriously, these people might not feel so free to peddle their shit.
