Weeks after reports emerged that PSG racially profiled youth prospects for its academy for at least 5 years, with at least one player not signed because he’s black, a banana peel was thrown at Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang during a match. Days later, some Chelsea fans were caught on camera yelling racial abuse at Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling whose reaction to the incident must be commended. He chose civility when he could easily have opted to fight back after the provocation. I feel like we need a different approach to confront blatant racism. There have been highly publicized campaigns like the “Kick It Out” (Kick Racism out of Football) initiative but clearly, they haven’t resolved the underlying issues. Time to send a strong message beyond bans and fines. Racists should serve time for the emotional and physical distress they cause their victims. Aubameyang is one of the nicest footballers around, almost always wearing the biggest smile and yet someone felt the need to insult him for no reason at all except the fact that he’s Black. Did they really think he didn’t know that already? We don’t have a problem with being Black or African. We have a problem with people who think less of us because of our Blackness. Nobody wants to be told they’re not good enough when they evidently are but even if they weren’t, it’s not your place to put others down. True fans respect their rivals, victory, loss or whatever. I remember the pain in LeBron James’ voice after his home was vandalized with a racial slur. “No matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are, no matter how many people admire you, being Black is tough and we got a long way to go as a society and for us as African-Americans until we feel equal in America,” he said. As accomplished as LeBron is, there are people who can’t see past his race. It’s not just in America though. It’s everywhere. People of Colour deal with racial abuse on the regular. Sterling did well to call out the British Press on reinforcing negative racial stereotypes. It’s mostly the Tabloids that push these narratives and I guess we shouldn’t expect better from them since they, much like trolls, thrive on sensationalism, but still, it’s hard to take. I read somewhere that Prince Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, is worried that certain members of the British Press are out to get her and when you read some of the stories about her, it’s hard not to think they are not. The barrage of attacks is unbelievable. I also remember when Idris Elba’s name was first floated as the next possible Bond. You’d think he was some washed up or struggling actor and not the Icon he is and who’d totally own the role. Some even said they’d boycott the Franchise and I understand how sometimes audiences are drawn to a certain character or genre and not another but you can voice your preferences respectfully instead of spewing racial hatred because you don’t know how your words can knock someone’s confidence or cause them to have self doubt. If it were up to me, Racists would serve at least 5 years just so they can learn to respect those different from them.
