This is a powerful article by John Barnes on the state of racism in the UK and elsewhere. the background to this article is that Manchester
City's Yaya Touré was subjected to racial abuse by CSKA Moscow fans during a Champion's League tie a
fortnight prior. There was the usual attendant fall out and say so from all those people who felt it was imperative for them to be involved. Among all the noise, I think John Barnes says something very valid, something others are afraid to voice. Only a person like him, one with the prerequisites, can get away saying this. Well, done John!
I'm
not interested in what happened to
Yaya Touré at
CSKA Moscow – as far as I'm concerned their supporters can abuse who
they want because, for me, what happened in Russia is the tip of a wider issue
and, quite frankly, something of a smokescreen. For instance, how many black
coaches are there in this country? Very few, yet all we're focusing on is
CSKA Moscow, and the more
we push for clubs like them to get banned or have their stadiums shut down the
more we don't need to look at what is going on here.
The
truth is that those at the top of British football do not care about getting
rid of racism, they just don't want to hear it or see it. As soon as someone
like Touré or
Danny Rose
gets abused in Eastern Europe there is shock and outrage from
players, clubs and the authorities, yet no one is speaking about the people
living in inner cities like Brixton who, because of their appearance and their
background, have become completely disenfranchised from society. Why don't they
care? Because the powers-that-be have enough wealth to not worry about these
people.
Black
players, in particular, should be tackling these issues because ultimately it
will affect them when they retire. There are so many intelligent former black
players, guys like Luther Blissett and Cyrille Regis, who never got a chance to
become a top manager or a top coach because of the perception that surrounds
people who look like them. They are black – which, for many, means they are
good athletes but incapable of being anything above and beyond that.
To a
large extent this is down to unconscious racism and probably 99% of us are
guilty of that – I know I am. We all have preconceptions of people based on
what we have been told about them and their race and ethnicity.
I
still come across managers of a certain generation, those in their fifties and
older, who say to me: "I don't see you as black", and think that is a
compliment. So what, I don't walk around with my jeans down by my arse, smoking
a spliff, so that means I'm not black? These are the attitudes we need to
change if black people as a whole are going to progress, and the only way we
can achieve that is through education.
This
is what footballers have to do – they cannot directly affect society but what
they can do is use their standing in this country to make a wider audience
aware of the wider issues surrounding race and stress the importance of
understanding that what they have been told about a certain group of people is,
in the main, wrong.
That,
for instance, the best occupations black people can aspire to is being a
footballer, or a runner, or a singer. People look at Barack Obama and say:
"See, black people can be President" – no they can't. Any black person
who has been successful, particularly Obama, has been lifted out of blackness
and stands as the exception.
We
need to talk openly about perceptions and not be afraid of the fact that we all
have different views about different people based on how they look. There is
nothing racist about an open, honest dialogue and it is certainly more
productive then pointing the finger at the CSKA Moscow fans, or at
Luis Suárez or
John Terry, and demanding
they are punished.
Personally,
I don't blame Suárez or Terry for what they did – they are simply products of a
society and environment that allows them to think it is OK to speak about certain
people in a certain way. It would be far better if instead of banning them and
demonising them, the Football Association aimed to educate them and make them
see that black people are undeserving of racial abuse.
The
truth is that Anton Ferdinand has more in common with Terry than he does with
someone from Africa. They're wealthy guys from western culture who both drive
Bentleys, both drink champagne and both listen to Tinie Tempah, yet Ferdinand
is told he is different, that he is part of a race open to insults? That is
ridiculous and, again, is the product of historically incorrect preconceptions.
Racism
is never personal – it's about someone saying the group I am part of is
superior to the group you are part of. How, for instance, can a handsome,
talented, beautiful black footballer be personally affected by a fat, ugly,
unemployed fan calling them a black this or a black that? I used to get that
when I was playing and I used to just look at the people doing it and think:
'You're abusing me? Look at you, how can you even dare abuse me?!'
That
is why it is pointless, and pretty ridiculous, to be worrying about a
footballer getting racially abused – in no way are they the biggest sufferers,
and, quite frankly, if I was someone like Touré or Rose I'd feel embarrassed if
I had to look at someone who was suffering genuine racism and take their
sympathy. A millionaire getting booed in Russia is nothing compared with
generations of people never getting the chance to better their lives and those
of their children.
Physically
we are different – east Africans, for instance, are genetically inclined to run
long distances in shorter spaces of time – but intellectually and morally we
all have the potential to be the same. That is the type of equality I am
interested in and is the message I give when speaking at universities and other
public forums. And that is what more people involved in football, black players
in particular should be doing. Because unless you get rid of racism in society,
you can never get rid of it in football and as things stand there will always
be these one-off moments when a player is abused or booed purely because of the
colour of their skin.
Everyone
goes into shock because they thought racism had disappeared from the game but
how can it have done when it continues to exist in every other part of society
at a more deep-seated, depressing level? Just because someone keeps their mouth
shut for 90 minutes doesn't mean that for the rest of the week he isn't a
racist, or hold unconsciously racist views, and until that is addressed, there
will always be a problem.
Tackling
racism is a long and complicated process but one thing's for sure; it cannot be
solved by banning a player or closing part of a stadium. The problem is wider
than that and if football really cared those involved in the game, players in
particular, would worry less about one-off incidents like what happened to
Touré when he played for
Manchester
City in Moscow and more about what is going on around them.
Perceptions need to change and for that to happen, education needs to be pushed
as the only way forward.
'Racist abuse of Yaya Touré is a smokescreen, real problem
is at home. A millionaire getting booed in Moscow is nothing compared
with people at home never getting the chance to better their lives'. John
Barnes
John Barnes has donated his fee for this column to charity
The Guardian, Monday 4
November 2013 21.18 GMT. All rights reserved.
