John Terry: How racist is racism? (See)

Perspective a)

Racism has become the buzzword in football over the summer. The entire John Terry fiasco has highlighted the ridiculousness behind how we perceive footballers. Should Terry have been found guilty, he would have faced a £2,500 fine and a criminal record. Next to his weekly wages and the disturbingly large number of criminal records amongst football players, it would have been more effective to lock him in a room with Jedward…for an hour. Using entirely subjective means to determine whether one is guilty in a court of law seems like a contradiction in itself, and if you read Judge Riddle’s judgement, the process seems laughable. The case was essentially, both in and out of court, a decision of “how terrible a person do we think John Terry is?” An entirely arbitrary threshold had to be made as to what point racism occurs. If Ferdinand called Terry a “white c*nt” would the case be switched round? I think not but that’s not the point. The point is that this is a relatively minor act to be brought to a court of law, one which has cost the tax-payer at least £500,000 and achieved nothing but rile people up. 

Immediately following the decision, anti-racism groups spoke out, essentially claiming that racism has won and black players will now fear speaking up (I’m going to ignore that fact that  most statements I have read ignore any other race as being potentially affected by racism). Even when the judicial process clears the charges, it is clear that many had already made up their minds. This ethical balance here is questionable at best. Along with the reactions was Rio Ferdinand’s monumental act of stupidity and, unlike Terry’s court case, this judgement is not subjective. Agreeing that Ashley Cole is a ‘choc ice’ (black on the outside, white on the inside) on TWITTER is not only moronic but potentially more racist that original accusation. Let’s analyse this term; racism is discrimination of an individual due to their ethnicity. The concept of being a ‘choc ice’ implies that being black and being white are separate states of being. The use of this term implies that white is antagonistic to black and that being black on the outside is some kind of lie, a façade that covers your true person (not in general, but for the accused). Moreover, being white thus represents being ‘not black’ and within this context, generalizes whiteness with racist tendencies. I wish I was being farfetched with this description, however in this context it is hard to disagree. Ashley Cole is being singled out, his race is being brought into question, he is being discriminated on for being black and that several implications are being placed on both him and the concept of being white. I accept, ‘choc ice’ and ‘coconut’ have a wide range of uses, but here it is a degree of racism far worse than John Terry’s utterances. And as it is placed on a public sphere, knowingly to millions of people its context is far more damning than heated interchange on a football pitch. Ferdinand’s response sums up the complete idiocy of it all, 

“What I said yesterday is not a racist term. Its (sic) a type of slang/term used by many for someone who is being fake. So there.”  

‘So there’! Is he 16 now?! He isn’t even aware of the implications of what he has said, despite the entire issue surrounding a disputed case of racism.

Idiocy and ridiculousness aside, the main problem of it all is that this could all have been resolved more easily. In October 2011 Luis Suarez (Liverpool FC) was accused of racially abusing Patrice Evra (Manchester Utd FC) and by the end of the year, was handed a £40,000 fine and an 8 match ban. The punishment was an adequate level of severity for a footballer and an effective deterrent against future offences. Had the FA taken the Terry case themselves, the situation would have resolved in a timely, effective manner. The matter would have been handled, dealt with and likely to be forgotten by now. Yet instead we have an intensely bloated news storm which has bred exaggeration and stupidity that could so easily have been missed.