Hi I’m Lucas Rolph and here is a piece about the ongoing issues with racism in football. Case studies have been looked into of players and also the TV show Jamie Johnson which shows how racism is a matter not just on the biggest stage, but in grassroots football as well. It is a perfect drama to tell a story to others and hopefully try to control and prevent racism within football and life.
Racism in football has been an occurring thing for forever, but with the influx in popularity of social media, racism has become more prominent than ever. Social media is a way for people to have a say and overall get their opinion delivered. The majority are critical, fair and kind, but there is a minority who are foul and disgusting. Social media makes these people believe that they can’t be caught due to the fact they are hiding behind their phones typing away.
The kids’ channel CBBC are using their platform as a way to reach out to those of a younger audience as part of an educational device to help teach children about the consequences of racism. They have used the idea of racism in football to tell the story.
Racism however is not just in the big leagues, but also at grassroots. As portrayed by the young black football star, Freddie, in the show Jamie Johnson. He is subject to racial abuse during a cup tie for his club Pheonix FC and shows how racism can affect someone and this case a whole team.
A clever storyline shows and builds the character of Freddie 500 and uses his story to hopefully inspire others and raise awareness of matters. This story comes after the England’s Euro 2020 exit, with racial abuse targeted at Jadon Sancho, Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford. They receives exponential amounts of racism online but fortunately enough, even bigger support by the majority. This proves that racism is prominent in all leagues and needs better work to help be prevented or controlled.
Another player who is constantly a victim of this trauma is Wilfried Zaha, the Crystal Palace winger. Zaha has been subject to racist abuse after Crystal Palace’s away win over Manchester City in a recent case. He was the main action of the match, scoring early in the game and being involved in the incident which resulted in Spanish international Aymeric Laporte being sent off. What does his race have to do with this? It can be fair to be critical of his behaviour and to call him out, but not to step over the line.
The Ivorian says: “Action, education and change”. This is what he believes social media companies and authorities should look at in an interview back in October 2020. This comes after he was racially abused yet again by a 12 year-old. The boy was arrested for his vile comments.
West Midlands Police spokesperson says: “The boy was extremely remorseful for his actions and has received education sessions as part of the restorative justice process”. Zaha also says: “People need to understand that whatever your age, your behaviour and your words come with consequences, and you cannot hide behind social media…It is important that social media companies do as they did and seek out these individuals and remove them”.
Racism has become a main part of football nowadays, with campaigns being led after many instances, mainly George Floyd. The Black Lives Matter movement after the Premier League restart is an amazing way to show how the majority stand against racism, from everyone born and raised in different countries.
