The nature of Sports is competence and the will to win and win fair. As a part of the social fabric, it plays along the lines of passion and emotions tipping the scale either ways. After all competence brings out the desire for winning and usurp one another. We see rivalries and oppositions in every sport, two sides wanting the best for themselves and fighting tooth and nail for the same. The fight for glory is sustained not just on the pitch but off it as well. The support provided by the fans to turn their teams on and unnerve the opposition is sometimes a sight to behold in a neutral point of view. But there are certain considerations of unnerving and certain points where unnerving ends up on the side of transgression to the point of deriding another hardworking opponent based on geographical and societal parameter or specific indications of the same.
Some of you might've seen through the veil here and understood what is meant. Sports is considered a very important phase of societal life as it not only elevates competence and self-improvement but also has proven to be a platform for fostering togetherness, brotherhood and on occasions sporting franchises have turned out to be more than just sporting institutions to being social institutions. But the acts of a few hooligans and rogues make way for what is considered a very prevalent part of sport and the prevalence of which is not very desirable for sports in its entirety. RACISM!!!!
Now racism has been a subject of much talk in today's world. Degrading a person based on their ethnicity, race, colour and history has for long been man's favoured weapon to throw at someone to morally break them down. No field has been exception to this and nowhere has it been more widespread than sports. The offensive nature of support sometimes gets tipped over by such heinous acts. Racism has been propagated in many different ways and has been a part of sporting structure since time immemorial. From the time when Hitler opposed to blacks and Americans participating in the 1936 Summer Olympics to today when reports of Napoli and Senegalese footballer Kalidou Koulibaly being racially abused by fans of rival club FC Internazionale Milan. It shows the dark history that has come along with revolutionary measures taken in the game to promote equality and throwing out ethnic disparities out of the window, as much has this has been done the road hasn't been planar all along.
A very touchy topic like this has fans questioning the integrity of some people who are more hell-bent on humiliating others on reasons afar from the qualities in focus and on show. But the reactions against racism has always been unilateral and against the same which is heartening to witness. Although tracking through a timeline we've been through plenty of examples known and unknown that have put up ample indications of this horrible practice that is in much use even today.
Tiger Woods, considered by many as arguably the G.O.A.T of golf was subject to racial abuse during his trial years in what was then considered as 'a sport dominated by the white majority' as statistics denote 83% of the professional golfers plying their trade being white. Commentators and experts used to have their digs at him due to his skin colour clearly oblivious of his prodigious talents. He was called as "black arse" and he was even denied entry into golf clubs on certain occasions due to his skin hue. Woods being of African-American descent recorded tales about his origin being the subject of much ridicule even in school and many other places where people needed reasons to downplay his success.
Professional baseball during the 20th century literally running competitions like the Negro leagues founded and run exclusively by Afro-Americans as they were denied entry into the National Baseball league due to regional bias and racial segregation among other bans dating back to the 1890s when the bans were met out for the first time. Over time the Negro Leagues became one of the most successfully-run leagues and one of the most-watched due to Afro-Americans perseverance to fight against the social discrimination and racial offences. Jackie Robinson the first ever Afro-American to play in the professional baseball league was subject to racial abuse from some of his own team-mates and fans during his time and in away games he used to be spat on, hit by and trodden upon by opposition players and was also booed by monkey chants from the opposing "fans".
Former LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling was effectively banned for life from the NBA when he made derogatory comments on Magic Johnson based on his skin colour and his Afro-American descent. NBA has been a breeding ground for many such incidents where players have been constantly downtrodden on their geographical ancestry.
Much constantly have the effects of racism been felt in association football. The above quoted case of Koulibaly being racially abused await trial but it is just the recent case in a long list of events that have occurred over the past few years. A few weeks ago, reports revealed Raheem Sterling being subject to racial abuse from a section of opponent fans during a Chelsea-Man City game have led to the belief that racism has engulfed in all its entirety. Europe is considered by many to be the epicentre of such activities with plenty of racial slurs being thrown at players. Instances of monkey chants, throwing bananas onto the pitch, fascist remarks all paint a very bad picture on "The Beautiful Game". Action has been taken and has been stringent on the same but even those measures haven't been able to stem the uproar caused by these activities as they still continue to be in practice. Millions of such examples can be quoted across the league and breadth of the globe.
Questions will be raised, action will be taken but we all still come back to the same situation concering more such deprecatory misdemeanours carrying on. The fact that some people still see ancestry, parentage and social background as ways to denigrate a professional sportsperson still shows dark corners in the world of sports. In the shiny, swanky stadiums there still exist certain folk who hide in the dark hurling snide remarks to hurt sentiments with gay abandon about the repercussions. The game and the sport is not healthy until such fans don't cease to exist. Many measures have been undertaken, people and sportspersons have been outspoken about it, support from other sportspersons such as in the case of Koulibaly where fellow footballers have voiced support have been heartening to see, countermeasures and redressal mechanisms have been in place and perpretators have also been met with serious consequences.
The fans only aren't the sole perpretrators, racism has been propagated by many mediums for a long time. Like the example of Donald Sterling just quoted, fans, managers, officials of teams, media and many others individually and collectively have conspired and resorted to defamatory means to demean and attempt to crumble the individual many of which have come back to haunt them.
Despite all the mechanisms until people get it in their heads that a level-playing ground like sports doesn't accomodate heinous practices like racial abuse and segregation, this issue will continue to loom at large but as yet only time can prove to find a suitable antidote to the same. Let's enjoy the game in focus and cheer on. Let's keep the passion but not oppression. Let's keep the fight upto such perpetrators and again,
Some of you might've seen through the veil here and understood what is meant. Sports is considered a very important phase of societal life as it not only elevates competence and self-improvement but also has proven to be a platform for fostering togetherness, brotherhood and on occasions sporting franchises have turned out to be more than just sporting institutions to being social institutions. But the acts of a few hooligans and rogues make way for what is considered a very prevalent part of sport and the prevalence of which is not very desirable for sports in its entirety. RACISM!!!!
Now racism has been a subject of much talk in today's world. Degrading a person based on their ethnicity, race, colour and history has for long been man's favoured weapon to throw at someone to morally break them down. No field has been exception to this and nowhere has it been more widespread than sports. The offensive nature of support sometimes gets tipped over by such heinous acts. Racism has been propagated in many different ways and has been a part of sporting structure since time immemorial. From the time when Hitler opposed to blacks and Americans participating in the 1936 Summer Olympics to today when reports of Napoli and Senegalese footballer Kalidou Koulibaly being racially abused by fans of rival club FC Internazionale Milan. It shows the dark history that has come along with revolutionary measures taken in the game to promote equality and throwing out ethnic disparities out of the window, as much has this has been done the road hasn't been planar all along.
A very touchy topic like this has fans questioning the integrity of some people who are more hell-bent on humiliating others on reasons afar from the qualities in focus and on show. But the reactions against racism has always been unilateral and against the same which is heartening to witness. Although tracking through a timeline we've been through plenty of examples known and unknown that have put up ample indications of this horrible practice that is in much use even today.
Tiger Woods, considered by many as arguably the G.O.A.T of golf was subject to racial abuse during his trial years in what was then considered as 'a sport dominated by the white majority' as statistics denote 83% of the professional golfers plying their trade being white. Commentators and experts used to have their digs at him due to his skin colour clearly oblivious of his prodigious talents. He was called as "black arse" and he was even denied entry into golf clubs on certain occasions due to his skin hue. Woods being of African-American descent recorded tales about his origin being the subject of much ridicule even in school and many other places where people needed reasons to downplay his success.
Professional baseball during the 20th century literally running competitions like the Negro leagues founded and run exclusively by Afro-Americans as they were denied entry into the National Baseball league due to regional bias and racial segregation among other bans dating back to the 1890s when the bans were met out for the first time. Over time the Negro Leagues became one of the most successfully-run leagues and one of the most-watched due to Afro-Americans perseverance to fight against the social discrimination and racial offences. Jackie Robinson the first ever Afro-American to play in the professional baseball league was subject to racial abuse from some of his own team-mates and fans during his time and in away games he used to be spat on, hit by and trodden upon by opposition players and was also booed by monkey chants from the opposing "fans".
Former LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling was effectively banned for life from the NBA when he made derogatory comments on Magic Johnson based on his skin colour and his Afro-American descent. NBA has been a breeding ground for many such incidents where players have been constantly downtrodden on their geographical ancestry.
Much constantly have the effects of racism been felt in association football. The above quoted case of Koulibaly being racially abused await trial but it is just the recent case in a long list of events that have occurred over the past few years. A few weeks ago, reports revealed Raheem Sterling being subject to racial abuse from a section of opponent fans during a Chelsea-Man City game have led to the belief that racism has engulfed in all its entirety. Europe is considered by many to be the epicentre of such activities with plenty of racial slurs being thrown at players. Instances of monkey chants, throwing bananas onto the pitch, fascist remarks all paint a very bad picture on "The Beautiful Game". Action has been taken and has been stringent on the same but even those measures haven't been able to stem the uproar caused by these activities as they still continue to be in practice. Millions of such examples can be quoted across the league and breadth of the globe.
Questions will be raised, action will be taken but we all still come back to the same situation concering more such deprecatory misdemeanours carrying on. The fact that some people still see ancestry, parentage and social background as ways to denigrate a professional sportsperson still shows dark corners in the world of sports. In the shiny, swanky stadiums there still exist certain folk who hide in the dark hurling snide remarks to hurt sentiments with gay abandon about the repercussions. The game and the sport is not healthy until such fans don't cease to exist. Many measures have been undertaken, people and sportspersons have been outspoken about it, support from other sportspersons such as in the case of Koulibaly where fellow footballers have voiced support have been heartening to see, countermeasures and redressal mechanisms have been in place and perpretators have also been met with serious consequences.
The fans only aren't the sole perpretrators, racism has been propagated by many mediums for a long time. Like the example of Donald Sterling just quoted, fans, managers, officials of teams, media and many others individually and collectively have conspired and resorted to defamatory means to demean and attempt to crumble the individual many of which have come back to haunt them.
Despite all the mechanisms until people get it in their heads that a level-playing ground like sports doesn't accomodate heinous practices like racial abuse and segregation, this issue will continue to loom at large but as yet only time can prove to find a suitable antidote to the same. Let's enjoy the game in focus and cheer on. Let's keep the passion but not oppression. Let's keep the fight upto such perpetrators and again,
LET'S SAY NO TO RACISM!!
Comments
Post a Comment