Government challenged to tackle online abuse
RAMS ASSISTANT MANAGER SAYS GOVERNMENT AND SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS SHOULD BE DOING MORE AFTER KAZIM-RICHARDS TARGETED
DERBY County assistant manager Liam Rosenior has challenged the Government and social media platforms to do more to stop online abuse.
Rams striker Colin Kazim-Richards received racial abuse on social media on Friday night.
Kazim-Richards had earlier scored a late equaliser in the 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest at Pride Park Stadium.
Both Derby and Forest condemned the abuse.
The Rams reported it to the relevant authorities and said they take a “zero tolerance” stance to discrimination and prejudiced behaviour.
Rosenior was asked about the issue ahead of Derby’s Championship clash away against Cardiff City tonight (7pm).
Here is what Rosenior said:
Q) With what happened with Colin Kazim-Richards on Friday night, are we banging our heads against a brick wall here?
LR: I am not sick of talking about it because it is so important to me.
It is not just for black and ethnic minority people, it’s for white people and people all over the world.
The sad thing is that what happened to Colin isn’t something on its own, it is happening more and more.
I think that is one of the negatives of social media.
You can have anyone write what they want, say what they want without any repercussions.
We have to get to a point, not just in terms of racism but in terms of everything, where we come up with solutions.
I think the social media sites have to take more accountablity.
I think they need to make sure every single person on these sites is identified so that people are accountable for what they write.
I spoke with Colin as soon as I heard what happened and the saddest thing in my conversation with him was the fact it affected his children. That is not right and is something we need to change.
It is OK to talk about it and say how wrong it is. We all know how wrong racism is, sexism, ageism, homophobia, all of these are wrong in our society, but what we need to do is start coming up with solutions to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Q) How has Colin Kazim-Richards been affected by this?
LR: Colin is a big boy. He is one of those people, his life experiences are incredible.
He has travelled around the world,
he has experienced things.
Me and Colin are of a similar age, similar generation, we grew up in London. When you become fathers and it starts affecting your children .... that is what we are all here to do, to make the next generation better.
Colin, is absolutely fine. He is an outstanding individual.
I think what upset him, and what upsets me, is when it affects your children and that is something we can all change.
Q) We continue to discuss taking the knee. Is too much emphasis placed on whether it is taken or not than actually solving the issues it was brought in to highlight in the first place?
LR: It is a funny question. You can highlight the issue and obviously the issue still needs to be highlighted.
I understand why some football clubs don’t want to take the knee anymore because they think things haven’t moved forward but my only way of trying to move things forward is to stick to what you believe in.
I am proud to take the knee because it stands for something important. It is not just just about racism, it is about equality for every single person on this planet.
So for me, until things do improve and until we do come up with solutions I think the only way you can highlight these things is by making symbolic gestures.
So I am happy to take the knee to make sure things are highlighted and make sure things improve for the future.
Q) Is there something practical football can do, more than just take the knee and raise the issue?
LR: I would take it further than football.
I think our Government needs to do more, they are the people who runs this country.
I remember after the Millwall game, when we were booed for taking the knee, I remember a senior Government official making comments about the whole issue around taking the knee and the BLM movement.
Until we challenge things at the very, very top beyond football we won’t change things the way things should be changed. So I challenge the Government more than football and the governing bodies around that to make a real difference.
Q) A strong letter on behalf of football was sent to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. How confident are you that it will have an affect with the social media companies?
LR: For me, that’s where it has to start.
I have to stay confident, I have to keep pushing forward, I have to keep believing and stay positive, that is what we tell the players every day after we lose a game.
That is the values of life, that is what I tell my children if they want to achieve something.
So I won’t give up my part playing a role in that and I won’t give up on the rest of society because I still believe the massive percentage of society is more good than bad, and these individuals that write these things on social media are in a small minority and they are getting way too much attention at the moment, which is exactly what they want.
Q) Colin Kazim-Richards said on Friday he could not wait to go home and tell his kids about his goal. Instead he had to tell them why their dad was being racially abused. Is that the saddest part of the whole incident?
LR: You have hit the nail on the head.
My job, not just as a coach but as a father, is to move the next generation forward and I have had to have conversations with my daughters that people may perceive them differently just because of the way they look or the way their hair looks.
I just want it to change. I am not asking for everyone to be giving people chances they don’t deserve, I just want every single person in society to be judged on the content of their character and not the colour of their skin or their sex or their gender.