Demba Ba: "And here's the reason why I decided not to play there when I could... And at that point I wish all the black players would get out of this league! Surely it won't stop their stupidity and hate but at least they won't affect other races."
Racism in Italy - even anti-racism is filled with racism
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
Saw the game against Cagliari i think. They hurled all manner of abuses on Rom. Sad that a beautiful game as football has been subjected to this farce. The authorities need to clamp down on and prosecute all idiots who engage in Racism.
I genuinely cannot make any sense whatsoever from that letter.
Something along the lines of "We're not racists just because we yell racist things. We only do it because we want others to get sad so they don't perform or feel comfortable playing against our team". It's how I read their view.
Why did he want to go to Italy? Even stevie wonder could see this coming. Feel sorry for him because he's going to be expected to keep quiet about it or face even more hatred. The things that United fans hated about his game haven't yet become apparent over there and he's already experiencing abuse
What they basically are saying is even though we say racist shit to you, we are actually not racist and we don't mean it, we only did it because you are our opponent. This is so stupid.
Come on Rom, it was only fake racism, not true racism. Be a good sport and let us do our thing. It's not like there's any real racism here in Italy like in rest of Europe *winkwink
The letter reads like a mafioso speaking where you have to listen to what he's not saying to understand what he's talking about.
The letter reads like a mafioso speaking where you have to listen to what he's not saying to understand what he's talking about.
Well that didn't take long at all.
Also that letter is fecking appalling. "Hey we say racist things but we're not actually racist, so don't take it personally okay?"
Also that letter is fecking appalling. "Hey we say racist things but we're not actually racist, so don't take it personally okay?"
I mean, that makes sense on an elementary level. It's widely considered banter (even on this forum) to make fun of or abuse players for being short, fat, ginger, bald, ugly etc. I don't agree with any of that but at least we have decided that a line has to be drawn when it comes to racism because that is much worse and has much bigger implications. It's hard to know what's inside the heads of these Cagliari supporters, whether they are just primitive racists or genuinely don't see that distinction. But it must be thoroughly unpleasant for black players to play in some of these stadiums and you can't blame them for deciding not to go to Italy.
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No sympathy for him whatsoever. Rightly or wrongly (and let's be honest, it is very wrong) he knew, or at least should have known, what he was getting himself into when he agreed to go to Italy. I can't work out if it's pure naivety on his part, or whether he just considered any potential racial abuse to be a small obstacle in the search for big money and Champions League football.
That is hilarious, it reads exactly like that.From the same people who hung a "get out of our club or else" banner outside icardi's house
That letter is the biggest pile of horse-shit I’ve read in ages, fair play
The clubs in Italy need to act and modernize themselves with immediate effect.
They need to take back control from groups who spout stuff like this.
That letter is genuinely disgraceful, and another example of the cowardly, modern 'but I'm not a racist' angle.
At least be man enough to fecking own what you are, cretins.
They need to take back control from groups who spout stuff like this.
That letter is genuinely disgraceful, and another example of the cowardly, modern 'but I'm not a racist' angle.
At least be man enough to fecking own what you are, cretins.
Is that letter real? It sounds like a parody/“joke”.
That letter is a joke right. "We say racist stuff to annoy the opposition, not because we are racist. Also we have a couple of minorities in our fan club, so it is all good right?"
It makes it so much worse that they've got a fully formed narrative to justify their actions, even just to themselves#. Amazing that people think it's ok just to "act" racist in certain environments, and genuinely believe that the victim of that abuse will not just tolerate it but support it.
"Racism isn't as big of a problem in Italy as it is in other countries because we racially abuse black people in a special and traditional way."
Hi Romelu
Disgusting post.
Considering what Inter Milan as a team is supposed to stand for , it's quite embarrassing to see this from their own fans. Ultras or not, it's representative of a big problem.
I'm with Demba Ba here. Would make a powerful protest if the top black players just stopped going to Italy. Starve them of some of the games best players and let their league rot. Maybe then they'll reconsider what's part of the acceptable norm.
I'm with Demba Ba here. Would make a powerful protest if the top black players just stopped going to Italy. Starve them of some of the games best players and let their league rot. Maybe then they'll reconsider what's part of the acceptable norm.
“The words could be considered racist but most of the mouths speaking them are not”
It’s understandable. Probably true. But still among the most monumentally stupid slants that anyone can put on any specific thing.
“We all punch women in the face. Because we want them to know we love another woman. It doesn’t mean we hate them. But we just need them to know another woman has our heart”
Absolute knobbers the lot of them.
Malcolm Gladwell does this great podcast which has an episode that touches on it (Revisionist History). It's a consistent trend where certain groups excuse their subversive behavior and attitude with some action or moment that 'shows' they aren't bigoted. For example, voting Obama into the White House saw a spike in racist incidents/complaints across the US that was framed as 'oh I'm not racist, I voted for Obama'. Similar sentiments after Australia had voted in Julia Gillard, this time with an excuse for sexism
While I do sort of agree with the letter that the purpose of them chanting racist stuff would be more to unsettle Lukaku than that they are actually racist, that still does not condone those chants or make them acceptable in any way. There are many more ways to make a player uncomfortable than just saying racist stuff.
What's irritating is the lack of action from the Serie A powers. Fans will continue to do this unless their FA start punishing fans.
What's irritating is the lack of action from the Serie A powers. Fans will continue to do this unless their FA start punishing fans.
What on Earth are you talking about?
If the issue was fans jeering him for poor performances etc I would wholeheartedly agree with “no sympathy, he’s done this to himself”. But this is racism; pure and simple.
You can’t condone it any way shape or form, nor can you decide to deride black players for experiencing it in certain countries as it being “their fault”. Lukaku can be accused of a lot of things, but inciting racism is absolutely not one of them.
How can you not have sympathy for a man getting monkey chants etc aimed at him? I don’t care if you don’t like Lukaku it’s unacceptable to take the stance “meh he only has himself to blame for going to country which has a racism issue in its football culture”.
You won't last long.
No REAL racism in Italy is like saying no REAL fat people in the US
"If anything Romelu was asking to be racially abused, wearing a skin colour like that..."
I do not condone racism in any way. My point quite simply was, why as a black man would you sign a contract for a football team who ply their trade in a country that has a history of racially abusing professional athletes? It makes absolutely no sense to me.
For some context, that letter isn't from the abusers...It's from his own fanbase. I guess it's their way of trying to protect their new signing.
There is no harm in the letter, even if it may not seem logical to some. The focus should be on the actual racist chanting.
There is no harm in the letter, even if it may not seem logical to some. The focus should be on the actual racist chanting.
Never thought of it that way. Blame is 50/50
You absolute fecking idiot...... of a post.
I think this says more about you as a person. You have no sympathy for someone who has suffered racist abuse, because they had the temerity to leave United and play for a different team? You're basically siding with those ultras. Despicable post.
He's not really being unsympathetic - he's just pretending to be to help his team.
Quite simply, black people should enjoy freedom of movement just like white people. There are pros and cons to living in Italy just like any other country, but a huge draw for Lukaku would be a different playing style, a manager who wants him and the opportunity to score more goals in a different league. Why should he give in to the racists?
Racism in Italian football? I, for one, am shocked!
This is my final post of the day, but it appears that I need to make it clear that I have absolutely no problem with the player leaving United. Also, I shouldn't need to stress that the player is in no way to blame for the abuse he has suffered. This is obvious. My point was that as a high profile black player moving to Italy, he must have known that there was a significant chance that this was going to happen. I'm not at all condoning it. I simply don't understand why he would move there in the first place.
This, plus his brother plays there and he likes the league from when he was a kid.
Besides he is used to a lot from his days in youth football. Used to tell the story about him showing his passport to all the parents of the kids in the other team before the game started. I am certain he knew what he was in for.
Good job people like Viv Anderson, John Barnes, Cyril Regis, & many others never thought that way. Otherwise football today in England would still be played by a lot of average white footballers, & we'd have been deprived of seeing some truly great players over the past 30 years or so.
It's up to footballers where they get to play their football. It's up to us, as a society, to make sure they are given the right to play their football free of prejudice based on their skin colour. Criticizing a bloke for choosing to play in a country known for racism is not the way forward.
It's like when I told my family off for saying they were getting a "Ch**ky" for tea and if I wanted any sweet and sour chicken. And their response was "we're only joking when we say that word".