Sports, racism, and the healing power of travel Part I
By Jeremy Branham on Feb 23, 2012 with Comments 12
This series takes a look at the global issue of racism in sports, searches for answers to explain our racial and cultural differences, and focuses on travel as a way to heal our sports, culture, and world. Check out part II Minorities in sports, world history, and the healing power of travel and part III Travel can heal racism, cultural differences in sports.
90,000 people scream with passion and excitement. Although I was a part of the crowd, I didn’t understand anything they said. We weren’t from the same country and didn’t speak the same language. Yet I felt a bond with strangers in a foreign land in which no words were required.
As a white guy wearing a jersey, I stood out from the rest of the crowd. However, that didn’t matter on this night. For one evening, I felt like a Catalan as we joined together, connected by our love of the game, and a passion for “our team.” We cheered for the same players and the same jersey even though we were from different countries and spoke a different language.
Sports, passion, and travel have a way of uniting cultures and bringing people together. Like those football fans in Barcelona, the language I speak or the words I share aren’t important when it comes to sports – it’s the connection with others through the experience that matters. Both at home and abroad, I’ve learned that sports can be a great way to connect with the local culture when traveling.
As great as my experience was, this isn’t always the case. Sadly, sports can divide people due to cultural differences and racism. In a world where we are becoming more interdependent and global, sports can still be a place where many people are divided – players and fans alike.
The world of soccer, or football, is a sad example of the racism and cultural divide that still exists today.
Racism in football and sports
Luis Suarez, an Argentinian football player who plays for Liverpool, was recently banned for 8 matches for using a racial slur against Manchester United’s Patrice Evra, a black football player from France.
Although it was agreed by all parties (Evra, the FA, and Suarez) that he was not a racist, he still used a racial slur. This came from a man who has played all over the world, with people of all colors in various continents, and has a grandfather who was black.
If this was an isolated incident, maybe it could be overlooked and judged as a sad mistakes on the part of one player. However, this is far common than it should be in an international game (or any sport).
Recently, another case has been brought against Chelsea football player John Terry (captain of the team) for his comments directed towards fellow footballer Anton Ferdinand. Terry will stand trial over racism charges after the Euro 2012 championships.
The fallout from this has impacted the entire country of England. As a result of these charges, John Terry was stripped of his captain role for the England national team by the FA (England Football Association). Due to the manner in which this was handled, England manager Fabio Capello quit.
This week, British PM David Cameron met with a group to discuss racism in football. He warned against a return of the dark days of racism in football and urged all sides to put an end to this.
Maybe the problem only exists in England? However, a look at the world of football shows this problem is everywhere.
This week UEFA launched an investigation into the football club Porto (Portugal) where fans may have issued racial slurs towards Manchester City footballer Mario Balotelli. In the Netherlands, many of the players reported that they have experienced racism in the sport including chants towards the Ajax team bus stating “Jews to the gas chamber.”
Racism in European football exists everywhere and occurs far too often than it should among players and fans. However, the world of football isn’t the only sport experiencing racism.
This week, UFC boss Dana White called Floyd Mayweather a racist. Last week, ESPN used a derogatory ethnic slur talking about New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin referring to his Asian heritage. While the headline was meant to be humorous, it resulted in one person getting fired and embarrassment for one of the biggest sports media companies in the world.
While the United States has come a long way from the racism and segregation during the Civil Rights days, players still deal with racism in football, basketball, baseball, and various other sports as well. We are not immune.
An international playing field
Today, the sports world is more international and global than ever. Players from all over the world join together on teams to compete together and against one another. The bonds formed as a result of sports are strong and beyond what many people may experience in their lives.
The best mens’ tennis players in the world hail from Serbia, Spain, and Switzerland. In football/soccer, the best team comes from Spain – a country that has worked hard to unite its people and its players from regions with different cultures, languages, and a violent past.
In cricket, India and Pakistan are among the elite. In baseball, the best teams are in the United States. The best players are still American – but most of them are Latin American. Canadians are passionate about hockey but there are some great teams and players from Europe and Russia too.
Look a little deeper at the world of gymnastics, skiing, rugby, and the world of sports becomes even more global.
All over the world, we see players from various countries and all walks of life scoring goals, putting a ball in the basket, hitting homeruns, and scoring touchdowns. They celebrate together as a team, hugging, giving high fives, and winning championships.
Honestly, one of my favorite things about watching sports is seeing a black man and white man embrace in the celebration of a game winning shot, hit, goal, basket, or touchdown. I enjoy watching two opponents from different countries and cultures showing respect and admiration for one another in victory or defeat.
As I traveled around the country on my College Football Travel Tour, I have met people from all walks of life in Seattle, Columbia, and Annapolis. And it’s the people that I’ve met through sports and travel that have helped me gain a greater appreciation for the world around me. College football fans and my travels give me hope.
We’ve made some great strides in the global game of life and competition. Yet coming together, crossing the global divide, and uniting cultures and colors through sports have still led to a racial and cultural chasm. Many big steps lie ahead if we are to heal the wounds of culture and race in sports and the world in which we live.
In part II, we will explore the reasons why racism and animosity towards other cultures exist and see how travel can heal wounds and bring together people of all colors and cultures.
Have you experienced racism in sports or in your travels?
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Filed Under: Featured • Sports and travel • Travel Tips • Traveling Thoughts
I'm Jeremy Branham and I love to travel. Check out my travel stories, guides, sports travels, and adventures.
Great topic to explore, Jeremy. I do not follow football, so I had no heard about these recent incidents.
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Love finding other people who write about social issues in travel — it’s a surprisingly rare thing! But you’re spot on here, thanks for it!
Sports has always been a part of my life. As I have traveled, sports has become an integral part of that as well as it really is an inside look at the culture. As a fan of soccer, I enjoy the game and can’t separate the travel and global aspect from the sport. So I look at these events from a much larger perspective than just the game itself. Maybe I wouldn’t have that perspective if I lived there but I think there are bigger issues here (which I will deal with in part 2) that go beyond sports itself.
Racism is a blight to football that needs to be – as the campaign slogan has it – “kicked out”.
The reason why it is so prevalent is, of course, that Britain was a monocultural and “monochrome” country until fairly recently. (Viv Anderson, the first black footballer to represent England in a full international, is 55 years old.) But times have changed, and attitudes that were widely accepted (not that they were ever “acceptable”) in the 1970s, are today considered a menace to society. And countries such as Spain and Russia – where black players are still taunted by banana-waving fans – have even had less time to adjust. This is not an excuse, mind you, just an angle to provide a little perspective.
I disagree with you in one respect only: the best football team in the world does not come from Spain but from Tottenham and is called Hotspur. Come on you Spurs!
Michael, I completely agree with you. The things you mentioned are what I am going to talk about in part 2. I definitely understand those things so you stole my thunder a little bit. As a preview of part 2, I will sum in up like this – Europe is dealing with many of the same struggles America did during the 60s with Civil Rights. They are just coming to grip with some of this stuff quite a few years later.
As for Tottenham, I hope they continue to do well this year. I’ve liked the run they’ve made so far. I don’t think they will catch either Manchester team but you won’t see me complain if they did. I hate Man U but like seeing all the other EPL teams do well (I am a Chelsea fan and sadly, this is a bad season).
Competition often brings out the negatives in people, but it also brings together people who might not otherwise have anything in common. Luckily in my decade of coaching high school basketball, I never had to deal with racial issues. I guess the color of the jersey was more important than the color of the skin.
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Leah, that’s a very good point. I wish I had emphasized that a little more in my opening remarks. Maybe I focused a little bit too much on the negative but it is great how people who might not ever have anything else in common or cross paths come together on a team and enjoy being around one another. I guess that is what I hinted at when I said guys work together for a common goal. That’s the stuff that makes me feel good about watching sports. Then you look at all these issues with racism, especially in an international game like soccer, and it doesn’t make sense.
Hi Jeremy, love to know about this information. I love the way you elaborate more about Racism and i am happy to know about it.
Interesting thoughts. I think sports as least racist compared to politics and voting. States rights, the southern strategy, voter ids, are all part of putting back obstacles for some to be unable to vote. After the civil war there were more rights but with the Jim Crow laws, they took away the rights and had separate bathrooms, eating, buses, schools. Some counties are trying to stop or have stopped busing which reinstates segregation again.
The outward verbal assaults just are the tips of the iceberg of what is still happening in many parts of the world.
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I think many of the things you talk about reflect on the culture of the South and many of the racial issues that they face. However, sports are some of the biggest passions for people in the area as well – especially college football.
Back in the 60s, it would be nearly impossible to imagine that so many people would pack stadiums and cheer for their teams with so many black players on a team. Now, most people don’t even care about the color of the skin as they cheer on their team. So while politics may have a lot of racial undertones and issues, it’s nice to look at sports and see an area where race doesn’t matter that much.
In that respect, we’ve come a long way.
I was extremely interested reading your article until I came to the part where you mentioned racism and talked about Luis Suarez from Liverpool. First of all Luis Suarez is a player from Uruguay and second if you are going to do some research please make sure you know what you are talking about because after that point I couldn’t keep on reading your article.
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Actually, I know very well that Suarez is from Uruguay. I didn’t need to do any research to know that. I am actually VERY familiar and knowledgeable about the world of soccer. However, he was charged with racism IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE (aka ENGLAND) for using a racial slur against Patrice Evra (who is French by the way – in case you weren’t sure if I knew) and suspended 8 games by the FA. When Suarez finally came back, Patrice Evra refused to shake his hand before the match leading to more controversy.
So this isn’t a matter of research or knowing where Suarez is from. I am not sure what your point was because even though Suarez is from Uruguay he was charged with racism for the racial slur he used against Evra. It really doesn’t matter where he is from – he was still charged IN ENGLAND for the racism charge. The point was that this is still an issue in English football regardless of where a player is from. You missed the point completely because you thought I didn’t know what I was talking about.
The point was being made about racism existing in English football – regardless of where the player is from.