■ Avoiding racial bias - A short guide
● Extracts from official guide at a diversity seminar last week
1. Language — and why the origins of some words or phrases can make them offensive CAKEWALK
The cakewalk originated as a dance performed by enslaved black people on plantations before the American Civil War. Owners held contests in which slaves competed for a cake.
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‘this is turning into a breeze, a walk in the park’.
NITTY GRITTY
Thought to refer to the detritus found in the bottom of boats once a shipment of slaves had been removed from the hold. The ‘nit’ refers to a parasitic insect — the ‘grits’ are the grain which would have been used as a cheap foodstuff to keep a slave ship’s cargo barely fed.
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‘the basic facts’, ‘the most important aspects or practical details’, ‘the key parts or substance’.
SOLD DOWN THE RIVER
In the 19th century, black slaves were literally sold down the river to plantation owners further south where brutal conditions awaited. The use of that phrase in a sporting context waters down that association it has with slavery.
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‘that back-pass left the keeper with no chance’, ‘put the keeper in an impossible position’.
UPPITY
A word used by white people during racial segregation in the USA to describe black people they believed weren’t showing them enough deference.
Black men and women were lynched by white mobs for seeming ‘too uppity’.
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‘agitated’, ‘chirpy’, ‘jumpy’, ‘uptight’, ‘troubled’, ‘perturbed’, ‘het up’.
Ask yourself now what the reaction might be to words/phrases like ‘blackballed’, ‘blacklist’, ‘black mark’, ‘whiter than white’.
Can you understand why someone might associate black = bad, white = good?
2. Description of players’ appearance, their character and their strengths and weaknesses
This is an important part of commentary but needs to be done fairly, avoiding the trap of racial stereotyping.
Black players like Sadio Mane and Adam Traore have ‘pace and power’. But they are not their only attributes.
Avoiding the repetition of racial stereotypes requires all broadcasters to take time away from match days to examine their style, and consider whether it requires a change in the way they think.