I’d say each of us (particularly white people) has a degree of inherent racism, much of which they may not even be aware of because it is so ingrained in our societal upbringing. As per the above posts about blacking up, these things are gradually recognised and moved outside of the circumference of what is acceptable. That doesn’t mean the activities or modes of thought have become more or less racist, just that they have been recognised for what they are.
My comments are less about ‘branding’ someone a racist, than about the inappropriateness of this barrister making a call on whether Mark Sampson is a racist. It’s almost meaningless to assert that he isn’t, when you’ve just adjudged him to have made racist comments. And it’s equally meaningless to say that he is, when to a degree we are all carrying prejudices around.
My contention is that the only thing achieved by saying that someone who has just been proven to have done something racist is not himself a racist, is that it separates the actor from the act in a way that allows people to not have to look at the attitude that had to prevail for those comments to be uttered.
Perhaps there’s a less loaded word than ‘racist’ that we could use, I dunno. But to me it’s not the same as saying fascist, or Nazi. Those have very specific definitions and views you have to subscribe to in order to qualify. Whereas anybody who benefits from structural and systemic inequality between the races is a racist to the extent that they go along with it.
I was going to mention black humour but perhaps that isnt appropriate. I agree that a remark that involves a racist element is inherently racist in nature, but it could be used in an ironic way which turns the remark on its head and pokes fun at racism. I am not saying it happened in this case as he doesnt seem that bright. It is entirely possible to make a racist remark and not be a racist. For example you might not have an issue with immigrants per se, but might utter “bloody foreigners coming over here and talking our jobs” at some point just because it is an easy, lazy thing to say. How many of us slag off the Yanks for voting in Trump, stupid gun laws etc. Does that mean we are racists? In this case I think that although he made comments which clearly have a racist element, he was making a very bad job of trying to engage in some banter. Think in terms of Bernard Manning going back on stage now and doing his old act. My wife’s step dad still trots out mother-in-law and wife jokes as if we were still stuck in the 70s. Some people just dont know how to move with the times.
“…My wife’s step dad still trots out mother-in-law and wife jokes as if we were still stuck in the 70s. Some people just dont know how to move with the times…”
Oh how the incompetents(there is another option of name for them) at the fa must hate Daniel Taylor. Another good piece.
That was a particularly ghastly moment when the four FA executives were asked about Lucy Ward’s sex‑discrimination case at Leeds, blinked dumbly (“When was that?” Greg Clarke asked) and admitted they had no idea what the MPs were talking about.
Ward, to recap, tried for 18 months to persuade the FA to investigate and the governing body was asked seven times before informing her, punily, that there was nothing it could do. Needless to say, we are still waiting for an explanation how they missed a story that has attracted considerable publicity since early 2016.
Nothing wrong with footballs governance(yes they really do expect us to believe their bullshit.
Quote of the week: Martin Glenn – happy with the FA’s last 17 months. “I believe we handled this case with decency and openness … The spirit in which we approached Eni’s concerns has been good.” How can we trust Greg Clarke and the Football Association on anything?
• The final take on the case from the FA’s third Eni Aluko inquiry: coach Mark Sampson is “not racist” but made illegal “racially discriminatory comments” due to his “difficulties judging boundaries when engaging in banter”. Glenn told MPs: “We regret this inappropriate banter.”
Football’s previousbest work ondiscriminatory comments: 2011: Sepp Blatter tells players to roll with racist banter, “shake hands” and accept that “this is a game”. His core message: “There is no racism in football.”
2014: The League Managers Association calls Malky Mackay’s texts about “fkn chinkys”, a fat Jew, a “gay snake” and a game called Black Monopoly which features only “Go to Jail” squares “friendly text message banter”. The FA says Mackay “had a legitimate expectation of privacy”.
2014: A Premier League source tells the Sunday Mirror that chief executive Richard Scudamore’s emails about “female irrationality”, “gash” and “banging skinny big-titted broads” were “meant in a Frankie Howerd-style way”. Scudamore, cleared of wrongdoing, says the banter was “private, exchanged between colleagues and friends of many years … I apologise for any offence.”
Meanwhile: Best gesture. Uefa’s all-white 18-member executive committee, launching the Uefa #EqualGame campaign to “celebrate diversity in the game … We want to highlight our commitment to leading the way.”
Where do these fuckwits with their self important delusions come from?
