Is racism in sport something that the education sector can tackle?
The football charity Kick it Out, football’s equality and inclusion organisation, work extensively with clubs and fan community groups to reduce racism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination through its education programmes.
However, by targeting a captive audience, so to speak, can schools, colleges and universities help organisations, like Kick it Out, challenge racism in sport? As an experienced educator, I am confident that racism is comprehensively challenged in classrooms up and down the country. However, if our educational institutions challenge racism when they hear it… it asks further questions as to why sports professionals are still subjected to racism from people who have been through our educational system. That said, as an experienced equality, diversity and inclusion professional, I am not confident that all workplaces in England would effectively challenge racist attitudes if they heard it in the workplace. As such, if racism is not challenged in the workplace as much as it should be then it is left solely to our educational institutions to drive an zero tolerance policy on racial abuse and racism in general.
More importantly, education is what is needed to help dispel racist attitudes and negative stereotypes amongst those learning skills for the workplace. In that way, we slowly influence the workplace where old fashioned racist attitudes can be challenged and hopefully diminished. A further knock on effect of this would be the impact it has on those who attend sporting events. That said, will sports fans themselves ever be in a position to feel suitably empowered to challenge racist abuse when they hear it in the stands?
Racism in sport recently hit the headlines again with extensive national press coverage when Raheem Sterling was allegedly on the receiving end of racial abuse during his side’s 2-0 defeat at Chelsea. It’s worth noting that in this situation Raheem Sterling is at work and as such is entitled to protection from harassment under the Equality Act 2010. Subsequently, if the allegations are found to be true, the player was racially abused at work and Chelsea football club are duty bound to investigate the incident and report there findings, taking appropriate action where appropriate.
Below is an thought-provoking article from Mandeep Sanghera, BBC Sport, highlighting the similarities between Raheem Sterling’s recent experience at Stamford Bridge and that of fellow Jamaican-born England international John Barns. Barnes famously back heeled a banana skin off the pitch in a game at Everton in 1988 and tells BBC Sport that the problem has not gone away since his playing days.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46504433
JD
The Equality Blog 