The astonishment by the Ticket guys made me realise that because we have grown up with the problem then we, in this country, seem to take it for granted that it happens. Yes, we throw our hands in the air and denounce it for what it is. We also brush it off some times as rivalry getting out of hand.
The program discussed the fact that in the 70's and 80's black players were subjected to 'monkey chants' and had bananas thrown at them. Only a few months ago, Spain hosted a game against England and blasted our black players with the same monkey chants and abuse.The American sports journalists were claiming that Europeans are regarded as forward thinking liberals and the USA is thought to have racial problems. This would, however, never be tolerated in the U.S. It would never happen at an NFL or NBA game. We are shocked too but because we have seen it so often we are de-sensitised to it a little bit and don't realise how aborrant the rest of the world see it.
What fascinated me was the Ticket guys, Bob and Dan, were amazed that Spanish people would be racist because, in their eyes, Spanish people are a different race. In Britain we see continental Europeans as 'white' and of the same race. It's funny that Texans think Spainards are not white because of Mexico.Racism is very wrong and I think the players should walk off the pitch. It was 10 years ago that Eric Cantona launched into the crowd with a 'kung-fu' kick because of the abuse he was getting for being French. I think the black players show great dignity at something that must hurt them a lot.
With the World Cup next year, let's hope that the bigotted, facist element of the fans keep away.
Random Shite :
No Surface All Feeling - Manic Street Preachers
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