There was a gruesome inevitability about the abhorrent racist abuse that three English footballers received following the penalty shoot out in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday evening. One could trawl over the ignorance, the hate and the wickedness for several pages yet it might be more insightful to think about this issue from a societal perspective, why it is still happening in 2021 and how not to react to it.
We have heard the following in the national echo chamber in recent years and these were repeated in the aftermath of the abuse given to Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka. To paraphrase: “England is a systemically racist country”. “England isn’t a systemically racist country”. “But certain English institutions are racist”. “The racism is from a tiny minority”.
When you get down to statistics that range from disproportionately high numbers of stop and searches on black men to the reverse considering representation in business board rooms or senior roles in our legal system, the problem takes on a greater significance that goes beyond it being a small number of people saying horrendous things on Twitter.
The aforementioned echo chamber reflects a broad perception which is a safety blanket for many English people who would like to think the status quo is acceptable and that there are always a few rotten apples. The statistics however point to something more troubling that needs addressing and that there are more than just a few rotten apples out there. The entire orchard needs a lot of work.
One of the central problems with this issue in the United Kingdom has been complacence and a readiness by white people to try controlling the narrative. There has also been a willingness on the political right to take votes using nationalistic slogans when those voters cannot separate nationalism from xenophobia or prejudice.
Some, naturally, compare what we have now to the bad old days of the 1970’s and 1980’s but just because our society has moved on from The Black & White Minstrel Show or the Brixton riots, it doesn’t mean we can relax or accept the current malaise.
Of course, for many years, the English or even the British, liked to see racism as being much worse in other countries like South Africa, the United States of America and Russia. This air of superiority that the United Kingdom is a fair society where equality is a core value seemed of comfort for many. But the sad reality is that it’s delusional or merely a platitude.
That so-called ‘equality’ in the United Kingdom has been exposed following years of austerity, referendums and a Pandemic as being a myth alongside the court of King Arthur. This country is not the cosy, progressive place many would like to think it is and the sooner more people are reconciled to this, the better.
Yet in the days following the online abuse of the three young men, there were reports that much of it had come from overseas. Within hours people were washing their hands of it. Right leaning social commentator Darren Grimes tweeted “apparently, lots came from abroad. To put that into perspective, tens of millions of us watched that game. There is no sign that this is a systemically racist country”.
So that’s okay then. It’s the foreigners that are the racists. Job done, move on.
A broad generalization met with an answer that was a broad generalization. The theory being that many of the abusive tweets had come from abroad in an attempt to destabilize our society. Presumably the latest in a long line of them that have happened in the last few years?
Following alleged interference in elections and the 2016 Referendum, this might be the case. It was ironic that figures on the right were happy to accept that there has been foreign interference and chicanery as they rejected the notion when posited as a factor for how Vote Leave were victorious in said Referendum.
The other issue with what Grimes had to say was that all racists don’t go to social media to express their hatred so the number of posts wasn’t a straw poll. Indeed, Grimes made an assertion that was a straw man argument.
Maybe there has been some skullduggery by disruptive bogey men but some of the abuse did come from social media accounts in this country. The Marcus Rashford mural that was damaged was in this country. Booing taking the knee has happened at matches in this country. The English Defence League came from this country. Members of banned far right groups who have been jailed recently? That happened in this country.
One reason that racism is still clearly with us is because we have looked the other way while it festers. And while it has festered, many have continued to harbour their prejudices and certain politicians and figures in the media know all too well how to manipulate this for their own purposes. This can be the only explanation for why supposedly intelligent people persistently conflate Marxism with taking the knee.
Another reason this racism is still with us in 2021 is because we have been told – mostly by privileged white people – that the United Kingdom is not a racist country. The more we maintain that, the more foolish we look.
To be relieved by revelations that many of these messages emanated from elsewhere or to use it as a way of saying there’s “nothing to see here” or as the justification for misguided ‘Whataboutery’ is dangerous. However, this is exactly what commentators like Grimes appear to be doing. Many people from an ethnic minority background or otherwise might disagree. Regardless of the numbers, one racist in society is one too many.
Athon 