Have any of you ever been the subject of racial abuse?

[thealbionfan]

I have, whilst I was at primary and secondary school. It was horrible and I have never felt so degraded in my life since. The aim of racial abuse is for one person to assert what they consider to be their superiority over another just because there skin colour is in the majority. I happened to be the only "coloured" kid in a school of Northerners in the 80s.

Over the years the British public has become more accepting of race whatever people may think. It has become completely unacceptable for racial abuse to take place through fans chanting in a football stadium at a black player for example. Although I recall times in the North stand in the Goldstone in the early 90s when it did happen and I felt very uncomfortable. Fortunately those days are gone.

I have read so much crap on NSC today about racism and whether Gus should be sacked or not...so many people leaping to his defence. For what it's worth, i dont think Gus is racist. There is an excuse that has been used a lot...oh they do things differently in different cultures and it takes time for players to adapt to life in the UK. Well, that may be the case, but, if you play, work, live in our country you play, work and live by our laws. It is never acceptable to use the "n" word to describe a black player on the pitch...if that is indeed what Suarez did. There is no defence for this behaviour and he should be punished accordingly if he is guilty.

I accept Suarez is from a different culture, but he should have been told that any kind of racial abuse and the use of any derogatory terms is not acceptable. I do not accept that the majority of people from other cultures think that it is acceptable to racially abuse people whether they are from Uruguay or somewhere else.

Based on how I cringe sometimes when I look back at the abuse I suffered, and how it was accepted as the norm, I have been really disappointed by Gus' comments as well as those of Sepp Blatter (although his are less surprising) effectively normalising racial abuse.

Racial abuse is not normal and the British society today no longer accepts it as such. If you're in our country you abide by our laws, no excuses.

Gus has let me down today; not by his attempt at sticking up for a mate, but by his attempt to normalise racial abuse.

 

[bn1&bn3 Albion]

Can't really call it abuse but I got shit for being english when I lived in Australia but thats only banter and never anything serious.

 

[Stoo82]

How I understand it is.

Gus was saying how can we, as english speakers, possibly comment on the meaning of a 'spanish' word and deem it racist? Which I think he has a point.

 

[Insel affe]

"Gus has let me down today; not by his attempt at sticking up for a mate, but by his attempt to normalise racial abuse"

I dont think he let you, the club or anyone else down, he let himself down today

 

[Insel affe]

How I understand it is.

Gus is saying how can we as english speakers possibly comment on a 'spanish' word and deem it racist? Which I thihnk he has a point.

yeah But he repeated the spanish "word" over and over again !

an Australian friend came over a few years ago and and said the word "wog" a few times meaning Italian and I corrected him after explaining it to him ie when in rome he at least did not say it again in front of me. Therefore someone would could should have pointed out this is wrong to Suárez's and Poyet should also know after the length of time he has been here this wrong !! end of

 

[Gully]

Yes, in Scotland, racially abused and threatened with physical violence for being English. Was at the end of a rugby game at Murrayfield and two goons overheard my conversation with one of the people I went to the game with, they took exception to me being English and threatened me, my mate intervened and dragged me off before they could do any damage.

I know that what happened to me is nothing compared to what black, asian and many other ethnic minority groups have to put up with on a far too regular basis, I have friends and family who have suffered in this respect. I would agree with the original poster about it being degrading but also add that it is a frightening experience, especially when accompanied by threat of physical harm.

All I can say about Uruguay is that I visited there last year and found it to be friendly and welcoming, the group I was with included Aussies, Kiwis, Dutch and Japanese, none of them complained of being badly treated due to their nationality. The original poster is right about racial abuse not being accepted in British society, the reaction to Blatter, Terry and Suarez seems to back that up, although only the first has been proven guilty of the offence, the others await judgement. My disappointment is the reaction to the rest of the World in relation to Blatter, hardly any other country seems to have come out and complained about his comments, the most serious reaction seems to have been a shrug of the shoulders and he has been allowed to wheedle his way out of it. Shameful.

 

[Whitterz]

Whilst I havent been subject to racial abuse, I cannot begin to wonder what its like.

Gus' comments were not needed. He may have been quoted out of context, in the respect that he is saying culture is different abroad, and foreign players have not adapted to the stance we have over racism in these shores. I dont for one minute believe Gus is racist, he's not, he was merely expressing his opinion on normality overseas. But all the same totally not appropriate for a manager in the second division to start getting on his high horse.

What I do believe is that the media have once again jumped on the bandwagon and will exploit every avenue that these recent events have brought. Thus bringing the game and the GOOD work the FA have done in recent years (by nearly eradicate racism from the game) into the troublesome spotlight.
If it is proven beyond doubt that racism from any of the players accused has taken place, then they should be banned for a year. The FA need to make a stance on this, not only by sanctioning the fans that commit racial abuse, but the players too.

 

[mistahclarke]

Whilst I havent been subject to racial abuse, I cannot begin to wonder what its like.

Gus' comments were not needed. He may have been quoted out of context, in the respect that he is saying culture is different abroad, and foreign players have not adapted to the stance we have over racism in these shores. I dont for one minute believe Gus is racist, he's not, he was merely expressing his opinion on normality overseas. But all the same totally not appropriate for a manager in the second division to start getting on his high horse.

What I do believe is that the media have once again jumped on the bandwagon and will exploit every avenue that these recent events have brought. Thus bringing the game and the GOOD work the FA have done in recent years (by nearly eradicate racism from the game) into the troublesome spotlight.
If it is proven beyond doubt that racism from any of the players accused has taken place, then they should be banned for a year. The FA need to make a stance on this, not only by sanctioning the fans that commit racial abuse, but the players too.

Yes I have. When I moved to England in the early 80's I was racially abused for being Irish. So much so I very quickly learnt to speak with an English accent. I define this as racism as comments were "go back to your own country" "you are not welcome here" "is your dad a terrorist?" which I expect Arabs got when the Taliban replaced the IRA as the major terrorist threat.

Paradoxly I was then racially abused for being English when visiting Ireland.

When I was 19 I moved back to Ireland in the summer. Thanks to my Maltese grandma I tan very well. So I was incorrectly racially abused for being Spanish.

Ireland has made big steps forward in recent years but was very backwards. The English still can be casually racist to the Irish but it is rarely classified as racism in my opinion.

Ironically the most racist person I ever knew growing up was an 1/8 st lucian. He was actually bordering on nf levels.

 

[happypig]

Two blokes tried to mug me with a broken bottle in Ditchling Road, called me a "f---ing black c---" and a few other racist names.

I suspect they were pissed/stoned as
1. Neither could swing a punch
2. I'm not in the slightest bit black

 

[Dave the OAP]

Yes, when living in south Africa. Went to an Afrikaans school in Germiston just outside joburg. Verbal and physical...the original school of hard knocks. Used to be fighting almost every day.....and my parents found out that the other parents were encouraging their kids to have go.

Very unpleasant and one of the reasons we came back to the uk not long after.

 

[tedebear]

Being Australian I take a fair amount of stick, which is usually fine. Being called a "convict c**t" by someone in a local pub one evening was overstretching the mark though, probably more jealousy and xenophobia though than racism?

 

[Working class pride]

Half English, half something else. Members of family did and there used to be "no blacks & Irish" signs up. However "Irish, Welsh, Ginger or whatever CU next tuesday" on a football field is not racist. The "Irish" element of such a statement is descriptive, the cu next tuesday is the bit that is the insult, not the "Irish" part of the statement. However trying to explain that to a person that listens to Talk Sport is about as impossible as teaching some english football fans that size is not relevant to how good a footballer you are.

 

[The Grockle]

Never been subject to racial abuse myself, not likely to either being a blonde haired but my brother in law who is half carribean (third generation) when drinking in an afluent, rural village just outside of Guildford some of the abuse he was getting was absolutely shocking, after spending an hour listening to comments like 'its suddenly got dark in here' and 'i didnt think we got them lot round here' we suggested we went somewhere else, hats of to my inlaw who refused to be driven away and didnt react at all.

 

[vulture]

to be honest I have seen gingers get the worst abuse at school etc.The girls were called ginger minge and ginger -unts etc....

 

[Deportivo Seagull]

I'm half Spanish & was referred to as a 'greasy dago bastard' whilst enjoying a pint in Pompey. I ignored it, the matelots and marines I was with didn't, it was very messy!

Just to clarify, Negro in spanish is black, if you add ito or -itos onto a word it tends to be affectionate and means little hence I was sometimes called Carlitos when I was little, as first name is Carlos. My cousin was called manolito as it is the younger version of manolo. The brazilians do something similar. It is definitely not the same as the N word. However, Suarez should have realised the connection and Gus should have kept stum!

 

[Gully]

Never been subject to racial abuse myself, not likely to either being a blonde haired but my brother in law who is half carribean (third generation) when drinking in an afluent, rural village just outside of Guildford some of the abuse he was getting was absolutely shocking, after spending an hour listening to comments like 'its suddenly got dark in here' and 'i didnt think we got them lot round here' we suggested we went somewhere else, hats of to my inlaw who refused to be driven away and didnt react at all.

Shocking, I am guessing that they were just random small minded bigoted locals, rather than you having had the misfortune to stumble in on a branch meeting of the BNP.

 

[Working class pride]

Never been subject to racial abuse myself, not likely to either being a blonde haired but my brother in law who is half carribean (third generation) when drinking in an afluent, rural village just outside of Guildford some of the abuse he was getting was absolutely shocking, after spending an hour listening to comments like 'its suddenly got dark in here' and 'i didnt think we got them lot round here' we suggested we went somewhere else, hats of to my inlaw who refused to be driven away and didnt react at all.

Spot on. Real racism is like this, deep seated with a sense of snide superiority thrown in. A bloke calling someone an Irish, Welsh or black cu next tuesday at football is not racist. You will get piss taking and abuse at football, its the rough and tumble of life. But proper snide racism is more likely to be heard at rugby union. There was not one english black player in the english rugby union side. Think about that and then compare that to the english football team.

 

[severnside gull]

Regularly racially abused by black and asian communities in Birmingham for being white. The black kids tended to also abuse asians (often more vehemently than whites) while the asians abused the blacks similarly. Everyone ganged up on the Somalis who, much as the jews in Hove when I was a kid, are something of a race apart.

Name calling is, in its intent, usually little more than a form of swearing to express anger and/or to cause upset - on the games field and in sports psychology terms it is rarely any more than a less literate form of antagonising the opposition than the more erudite efforts of the likes of Ferguson or Adkins. It is unpleasant for sure but contextually it is not necessarily racial abuse despite sharing the same characteristic language. Racial abuse is about fear of difference and having a focus of blame for real and percieved deprivation. The current spats appear, contextually and realistically, to be concerned with little more than name calling. They are largely pointless and do nothing to deal with the ingrained and inherent problems of disparity of opportunity in an ostensibly multi-cultural society. They do however give politicians of all creeds and colours a wonderful opportunity to ignore the real issues.

Does anyone believe in their heart that cutting out swearing and foul language between races will have any impact on the continued use of similar language in any other context least of all that it will somehow wave a metaphorical magic wand and resolve the issues and effects of inherent racism within our society? So a white player won't call a black one a black bastard (just a bastard maybe?) and a black player wont call a white one honkey (but may still diss his mother). But prosaically, will british born asians have any better chance of making a future in football than they currently do or more importantly will ethnic minorities ever be enabled to achieve academically at the same level of their white counterparts or occupy a lesser percentage of the jobless queues than they currently do?

Words are cheap, on the football pitch and off, but solutions to real problems need a determination to confront them and not be hidden behind a fatuous and facile argument that lets us all off too lightly.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

"Gus has let me down today; not by his attempt at sticking up for a mate, but by his attempt to normalise racial abuse"

I dont think he let you, the club or anyone else down, he let himself down today

no he didn't, he's entitled to his views , don't loose any sleep over it .

 

[Mad Jack McMad]

In a case of mistaken identity I almost got butchered by a big group of Asians in the Midlands once. One of them was very animated holding a crowbar and shouting 'look at the little scared whiteboys.'

To be fair I was more concerned about getting out of the situation alive than the comment about my ethnicity.