WE WON TOGETHER WE LOST TOGETHER
‘Don’t let racists spoil the success of England’s Three Lions in bringing the country together’
ANTI-RACISM groups, thinktanks and MPs are urging everyone associated with professional football to build on the England team’s achievements during Euro 2020 in cementing better racerelations in the country.
During the past four weeks, England got behind its football team as it made history in reaching its first finals in the competition. Not since the 1966 World Cup – the only English football success at a major tournament – has the country had so much to celebrate.
“What we have to do is to remind ourselves of how positive the previous four weeks were,” said Sanjay Bhandari, the chair of anti-racism charity, Kick It Out.
“That (England manager) Gareth Southgate is an incredible leader who has led a team with a band of brothers’ spirit that has lifted the spirits of the nation as we come out of lockdown.
“They get the importance of everyone feeling included, and that football, being a game for all, and this country have come together.”
Sunder Katwala, director of the British Future thinktank, said it has been “a brilliant month for England, for English football, and for Englishness”.
The team, he said, did more than just talk about being representative of the nation.
“Sport can often be powerful in a show, not tell, way,” he told Eastern Eye. “When you had the first black players in the team, and they fought the argument, it changed the idea of who could be English. You had the image of an inclusive Englishness.
“But what’s been different in 2018 and 2021, is there’s been a narrative and an articulation that goes with it, [something] that you would associate with a civic society leader or a political leader.
“And it’s been a football manager, and football players who’ve actually spoken up for a diverse and inclusive Englishness.”
Manisha Tailor is the only south Asian in a full-time coaching role in any of the 92 clubs in English professional football, as the newly promoted assistant coach at Queens Park Rangers.
“The Euros have been an incredible experience. They took us on a journey which was more than just about football,” she said.
“It brought people from the community together, for the love of the game. Even those who may not have watched football before were hooked, and this has been great to see.
“I think food and music is a big part of south Asian culture, and the tournament allowed for this to be infused with sport, showing what being English and living in England mean to different people.”
On Monday (12), Southgate praised his team and the fans who supported them.
“We have been a beacon of light in bringing people together, in people being able to relate to the national team, and the national team stands for everyone,” he said.
“That togetherness has to continue, and we’ve shown the power our country has when it does come together and has that energy and positivity.”
Katwala said that Southgate’s leadership gave his players confidence to speak out on things considered political in the past.
“They’ve led the country and provided the vision and version when everybody else has been silent on this point – of what does England need to mean in the England of 2020.
“They’re a very socially conscious generation. I think Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Jordan Henderson have shown that.
“It’s a very young team, the average age is 25. They represent the shift in views of the 25-year-olds of England today. It’s a more diverse group more confident, comfortable, about diversity.
“They don’t have to fight some of the battles that Cyril Regis, Luther Blissett and that first courageous generation of legends had to fight.
“They say, ‘we will make new progress in our generation, the progress of the past is a foundation for battles to win today’.”
Black and south Asian MPs have been quick to praise the England team and their head coach.
“As I posted on social media, we should be very, very proud of the achievements of Gareth Southgate and his wonderful team. They have been a class act throughout,” said the Labour MP for Slough, Tan Dhesi.
“Just because somebody missed a penalty kick, or just because the team narrowly missed out on creating history by winning the European Championship for the first time ever, it doesn’t mean those players have failed.
“They are heroes, and they should be regarded as such.”
Dawn Butler, the Labour MP for Brent Central, described it as a “fabulous four weeks”.
“The lads just made us so proud. The whole English team was phenomenal,” she said. “They literally lifted the whole country out of depression, brought us hope at a time when we needed that more than ever.
“That hope didn’t come from politics. It came from a football team, full of young lads and a great manager standing by what they believed in, social causes, justice and equality.”
Hundreds of south Asian supporters were at Wembley for the final against Italy, while tens of thousands watched the game live on television.
BBC Radio Five Live’s Nihal Arthanayaka summed up many people’s thoughts with his tweet, “I hated myself that my default setting was ‘I hope the black players don’t miss the penalties.’”
But immediately after the defeat, the three black players who missed their penalties faced racial abuse on social media.
“It’s always there lurking in the background. We always knew that if England missed penalties and a black player missed, it [racism] will come back online,” said Bhandari.
“But we also have to remember that online is very different to the real world. There’s clearly an element of the online abuse that is real people in this country who are tweeting racist stuff.
“Our data from monitoring online abuse over the whole season, and previously, the vast majority of online abuse actually comes from overseas, and comes from people who’ve never set foot inside an English football stadium.
“You can’t really call them fans, they’re users of the platforms.”
Such is the difference from a generation ago that the second in line to the throne, and FA president, Prince William, took to Twitter to condemn the racists.
He tweeted that he was “sickened” by the abuse.
“It is totally unacceptable that players have to endure this abhorrent behaviour. It must stop now and all those involved should be held accountable.”
But only social media companies can stop racist abuse online.
Over the past two years, sport stars, celebrities, and the Duke of Cambridge have all periodically boycotted social media.
Companies, like Twitter, have promised to clamp down on abuse, but critics say they are too slow to act, and when they do, the punishment is meaningless.
Katwala suggests that if nothing changes, players should once
again boycott social media on the first day of the new Premier League season next month.
“The FA should go in, studs up, and put the social media companies under pressure,” he said.
“They should use the first day of the football season in August to say to Twitter, to Facebook, ‘whose side are you on? Are you on the side of anti-racism, or are you going to keep these pro-racism rules?’
“There isn’t enough punishment when there’s racist abuse against players. Bans are voluntary. If you get banned from a platform you can come back on.
“If the social media companies want to be part of a healthy conversation, you’ve actually got to sit down with the players, listen to them and make some changes.”
He is backed by the Labour MP for Perry Barr, Khalid Mahmood.
“All social media platforms have a responsibility. They’ve got to engage forcefully with anybody who generates hate campaigns.
“You can’t do it on the street, but putting it on social media and getting away with it isn’t right.
“You shouldn’t be allowed to get away with racial abuse.”
Butler added that social media platforms needed to be held accountable for their inaction.
“Find ways that affects their pockets, not something that they can just easily dismiss, and use racism as clickbait to enhance their money-making model.
“At the end of the day, social media platforms make money from clickbait, and we’ve got to change that. And it’s not just racism, it’s homophobia.”
Bhandari said the approach to tackling online abuse was “fragmented”, and urged the FA, the Premier League, the English Football League, and the Professional Footballers’ Association to “remain engaged” in fighting racism in the sport.
“Part of the challenge is you have to figure out who’s actually got jurisdiction,” he explained.
“All of those governing bodies, we want them to remain as energetic and involved as they have been, and they’re engaged with it.
“So, for the last year or so, the public statements of support have been really good in supporting the players in what they wanted to do around making protests and we want to see that continue.
“We worked well together as a unified team, around the social media boycott. We need more of the teamwork across football.”
Referring to the racist abuse in a briefing on Monday, prime minister Boris Johnson said, “Shame on you, and I hope you will crawl back under the rock from which you emerged.”
But his comments were criticised by the former Manchester United and England right-back, Gary Neville. He told Sky News, “He [Johnson] said Muslim women look like letter boxes. Honestly, Gareth Southgate and Boris Johnson are poles apart.”
Home secretary Priti Patel also joined in the criticism of racism aimed at England’s black players.
“I am disgusted that @England players who have given so much for our country this summer have been subject to vile racist abuse on social media,” she tweeted.
“It has no place in our country and I back the police to hold those responsible accountable.”
But Aston Villa’s and England’s Tyrone Mings took to Twitter to slate Patel (see box, right).
“You don’t get to stoke the fire at the beginning of the tournament by labelling our anti-racism message as ‘Gesture Politics’ & then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we’re campaigning against, happens.”
That outrage was echoed by Dhesi, who called the prime minister’s condemnation “hypocritical” because he had not supported players who took a knee.
“Ministers need to be called out, because some of this dogwhistle politics when individuals, like the prime minister, like the home secretary, had been saying that they will not condemn those who are booing the English players when they are taking the knee.
“Those guys were taking the knee to make a stand against racism. Racism should be condemned by all. Instead, the likes of the prime minister and some of his Conservative ministers described that as gesture politics.
“So, is it any wonder that when dogs eventually start to bark, we should not be surprised?”
But it is not just opposition MPs who have criticised Patel.
The former Conservative party chair, Lady Sayeeda Warsi, tweeted her disgust. “It’s time to stop the culture wars that are feeding division,” she wrote.
Tailor told Eastern Eye that she was saddened that some players had been subjected “to such hurt and vile abuse for simply representing their country”.
Yet, she revealed, the Euros had given her hope.
“My mentors had already empowered me to be resilient, to have the courage to persist and to find different ways of learning. This, in essence, has helped me to problem solve, manage how I feel and find solutions,” she said.
“The atmosphere created as a result of the tournament has added to this. It has left me feeling even more inspired to be part of what England means to us, an all-inclusive England and continuing this journey for change.”