John Terry: How racist is racism? (Saw)

“Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up again?” Know the film? If not go and watch Batman Begins, then the Dark Knight and the go straight to the cinema to see the Dark Knight Rises. You’re welcome. The reason for the quote? Over the past football season we have seen 2 high profile cases of racial accusations being dealt with badly. It has brought to light for many that racism has not been extracted from football and still exists in the minds of some at least. Perspective See dissected Rio Ferdinand’s “choc-ice” tweet and how the entire situation could have been dealt with. Here I will examine the lessons to be learned from the past 12 months and what they mean. It has been stated that racism still exists in football as highlighted by the Luis Suarez and the John Terry case but this just isn’t so. What it really means is that idiots still exist in football and this seems to have been overlooked. Were they racist comments? Maybe. But are they racists and is this full blown racism? Probably not. This is not excusing their relative comments in any way, but what it means is that extrapolating the issue to a problem within an entire industry is an extreme reaction. Luis Suarez will almost definitely not reoffend. An 8 match ban was due punishment and an example to others that racism will not be tolerated. The implications of several matches out are huge for a player, and a second occurrence could spell the end of their contract. Similarly Kenny Dalglish can pretty much put his sacking to the laughable handling of the entire situation and I don’t think anyone envies the media scrutiny that John Terry has been under. The John Terry court case is now a prime example of how that situation should not be dealt with, and should prevent any further cases being brought before a legal court rather than an FA hearing. Bringing back the Rio Ferdinand extension, the upside to the public display of idiocy is that it should remind other players that Twitter is public and now, it seems, scrutinised by the police for offences. Some clubs have already put their players through social media training to learn what and what not to display to their fans in order to maintain the credibility of the careers and their clubs. What he thought was an innocuous tweet may land Ferdinand in a heap of trouble and as such a well known and respected player, his fall will act as a warning to younger players to watch their fingers. And whatever the outcome for John Terry, he will surely have learned to watch what he says even on the pitch. This is NOT as many people claim, a slap in the face of free speech, it is a hazard light to recklessness. Hopefully the lessons to be learned are that whether on a pitch in front of tens of thousands of fans and Televsion cameras or online where you can see how many people can read your every comment, …well isn’t it obvious.


(Please comment below on either post, all opinions welcome unless they are abusive)

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.