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The Dark Cloud Over Sport

How shocked were you by the furore over what Raheem Sterling had to endure in Manchester city's 2 ni...
TodayFM
TodayFM

10:00 AM - 11 Dec 2018



The Dark Cloud Over Sport

Sport

The Dark Cloud Over Sport

TodayFM
TodayFM

10:00 AM - 11 Dec 2018



How shocked were you by the furore over what Raheem Sterling had to endure in Manchester city's 2 nil defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge?

It's nothing new but is there a renewed willingness to stamp it out?

Across the globe race is a geopolitical issue and the world seems to be struggling with how best to resolve it. 

Former England coach Gary Neville says Manchester City's Raheem Sterling came to him for help after what he felt were "vicious" attacks during Euro 2016.

The 24 year old Sterling, posted on Instagram that newspapers are helping to "fuel racism" by the ways in which they portray young black footballers. 

 

 
 
 
View this post on Instagram

Good morning I just want to say , I am not normally the person to talk a lot but when I think I need my point to heard I will speak up. Regarding what was said at the Chelsea game as you can see by my reaction I just had to laugh because I don’t expect no better. For example you have two young players starting out there careers both play for the same team, both have done the right thing. Which is buy a new house for there mothers who have put in a lot of time and love into helping them get where they are, but look how the news papers get there message across for the young black player and then for the young white payer. I think this in unacceptable both innocent have not done a thing wrong but just by the way it has been worded. This young black kid is looked at in a bad light. Which helps fuel racism an aggressive behaviour, so for all the news papers that don’t understand why people are racist in this day and age all i have to say is have a second thought about fair publicity an give all players an equal chance.

A post shared by Raheem Sterling x 😇 (@sterling7) on

 

Both Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling and former Liverpool winger John Barnes have a lot in common.

They are two Jamaica-born England internationals playing 30 years apart, but racism has proved an issue for both.

Barnes famously backheeled a banana skin off the pitch in a game at Everton in 1988 and says that the problem has not gone away since his playing days.

"Those days haven't gone. They have gone in terms of the overt racism. In many respects, I much prefer the overt racism now to the racism we went through in the last 10 years whereby we are being told that it doesn't exist so, therefore, let's get on with it. I knew that not to be true.' says Barnes.

But what can really be done?

According to Barnes:

"Forget about football, we have to stop compartmentalising it and thinking it is a problem in football and the rest of society is fine.

'We have to look at it holistically and as a whole and say let us tackle racism or discrimination in life. Then you can look to get rid of it in football. The only way you can do that is first to deconstruct the idea of where racism came from.

"Racism comes from the fact that for the last X amount of years, the history that we have learnt - what we have been told about different groups of people - have put a certain group of people above the other, which is a lie."

We can but hope.



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