Support women's sports and SHARE this story with your friends!

Photo from Reuters. The Atlantic.

Citing the critical role that sportsmen and women and sporting organisations have played in unifying societies torn apart by conflict, tackling prejudice on issues such as HIV/AIDS and in breaking down gender equality, [Kofi] Annan will say that sport brings our world together in a way few, if any other activity, can manage.  (Kofi Annan Foundation, 2010)

If you have seen Invictus or Remember the Titans you have seen sport break down racial barriers on the big screen.  If you know of Right to Play, perhaps you have heard the stories of Israeli and Palestinian children playing on the same soccer teams.  These are the feel good stories that make us think that, yes, race is insignificant once the ball is in play.  Unfortunately, sport can be just as divisive as it can be unifying and recent events have brought this reality to the forefront.

If we remember back to the 1972 Summer Olympics when Palestinian terrorists murdered eleven Israeli athletes, coaches and team officials, we know all too well that sport has commonly facilitated racial hatred.  When people like Tiger Woods, Venus and Serena Williams, and Gabby Douglas regularly grace the pages of Sports Illustrated and are highlighted on SportsCenter it is not difficult to think - hey, we've come a long way.  This is true, we have come a long way; but, we've still got a long way to go.

In 2009, fans were banned from attending a Davis Cup tie between Israel and Sweden.  The tie, which took place in Malmo, Sweden, (known for a large Muslim population) excluded spectators for fear of anti-Israel protests.

The move by Malmo local authorities, overturning an earlier decision by the city's police force to allow the tie to go ahead in front of paying fans, has raised fears that the recent attacks on Gaza will continue to have ramifications for global sport and could set a worrying precent.

And who said sport isn't political.

Photo from IlyaMeyer.

Let's take Joel Ward as another example. He is one of the few black players in the National Hockey League and when he scored the overtime game winner to help the Washington Capitals advance to the second round many Bruins fans (as well as other fans) used Twitter to express their racist condemnation for Ward.

{WARNING: STRONG AND OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE}

From the Huffington Post:

@tomtroy12 - The fact that a nigger scored the winner goal makes this loss hurt a lot more

From Black Sports Online:

@AndrewDula6 - So fucking mad. That fucking nigger scored.  #4thlineblacktrash

@Mahdawg_Jake - We lost...to a hockey player nigger...What kind of shit is this

Then when Ward, arguably, cost the Capitals the series against the New York Rangers the Twitterverse once again erupted with language many of us thought had been left in the history books.

From Hockey in Society:

@Jack Scholl - Joel ward can get lymched [sic] for all I care. Fuck you

From a Flyers fan, @amorriseey: RT @JaredGaspar: Joel ward is going back to the plantation because of what happened this game

Most recently, the Euro Cup 2012 has come under scrutiny for racist abuse in Ukraine.  The Atlantic reports:

Monday, a special report from BBC1's Panorama explored the racism in the soccer cultures of Poland and Ukraine...The program showed Polish and Ukrainian fans beating up Asian fans and slurring oppossing teams as "Jews."

The full 30-minute report is full of shocking moments.  In Ukraine, there's one scene showing fans making monkey sounds at black players. There's also one where a white supremacist group admits it embraces "some aspects" of Nazism, like getting rid of non-Ukrainians.  The group also happens to train its members in knife fighting.  Polish slogans include "Jews to the gas" or "death to the hooknoses."

In response to former English player Sol Campbell's statement that fans should stay at home or risk coming back in a coffin, Ukrainian officials replied:

"We will have a normal, safe atmosphere for foreign citizens," said Oleh Motveitsov, an Interior Ministry official charged with security measures during the Euros. "Ukraine will be hospitable."

"The only piece of advice I have for foreign fans is not to get into trouble, not to get drunk and not to get involved with people they don't know to avoid problems...Better to stay together as a group than going alone in dark back alleys" Motveitsov said.Does this sound like denial to anyone else? Isn't that why people go to these large sporting events, to get drunk and party with people they don't know?  Doesn't telling people they should stay in groups further reproduce racial groups, because let's face it - our social groups are usually pretty homogenous. Sport is often sold as one of the few arenas where race is irrelevant because we believe that the cream will always rise to the top.  Let's, for a moment, say that this is true, that sport is truly a meritocratic system (which, I do not necessarily believe but that is for another post).  If people have earned their way to the top then is the best that we have to offer the cream - racist taunts and fear of violence?  If this is how we treat the best athletes and their fans at the most prestigious events, I fear how we treat the rest when the cameras aren't rolling.

Support women's sports and SHARE this story with your friends!

• Sports
• SportsPLUS
• Racism

View Original Post at cszto.blogspot.com

View Resident_Badass's Full Profile