Isn’t this a bit racist?

Professional Footballers' Association
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Annoyingly (and bizarrely) I can’t find reference to the story I heard on BBC 5 Live on their website anywhere. Partly because the search facility on the BBC News website is complete crap.

Anyway… the story in question. Apparently there is talk about forcing through some kind of legislation to make football league clubs interview at least a handful of black candidates when the position of manager becomes available. This announcement comes from the PFA who are a little peeved that there are only two “home-grown” black managers working anywhere in the football league.

While I’m 100% for equality, isn’t this a pointless exercise? There are many reasons why black players may not progress into management when they finish their playing careers, but is employer racism really one of them? And is forcing clubs to interview them really going to help when there’s nothing forcing them to employ a black manager anyway? Surely if they’ve decided on one or two candidates (who may happen to be white), interviewing a third who they’ve already decided isn’t in the running is a waste of everyone’s time.

I don’t have figures to hand, but at any one point in time how many players are employed in the football league? And of them how many – regardless of race, nationality, colour, whatever – go into management? I’m thinking a tiny percentage. Now it may be that 25% of players (number off the top of my head) are black, so some would expect that 25% of managers would also be black. But any player is just a human being with their own aspirations and preferences.

A large number of ex-players don’t go into management because they don’t want to. Simple as that. There are other things out there for them. Punditry is one, or simply retiring and enjoying life with their families now they have the time. Management is hugely stressful so surely isn’t going to suit everyone.

As a Newcastle supporter, we’ve had two black managers in fairly recent years. Ruud Gullit didn’t make any friends, but not because of his colour. On the other hand, we went mental when the board flung Chris Hughton out on his ear and hired one of the club owner’s little toadies in his place. Nobody cared about their background, just on the results they could give us.

Simply, I want my club to hire the best man for the job. I’m sure every fan wants the same, regardless of what team they follow. Why should we be aiming for a certain percentage of people of different colour in the role, when it’s completely irrelevant. Experience, drive, education, ability to lead… these are individual qualities all completely unrelated to skin colour.

By forcing clubs to interview black candidates, the PFA would surely be breaking discrimination law by showing favouritism? If there is racism endemic in the hiring process, then by all means lets tackle it. But this isn’t going to do it. A candidate for a job has to sell themselves and a sensible employer will look at what is best for their business. If a candidate is in the interview seat because someone told the boss that they had to interview them (and not because of an impressive CV), then they’re hardly likely to be given the job.

In the worst case, this kind of thing inflames racism. It gives the “white power” numpties more ammunition to use by claiming that favouritism is being shown to the people they want to cause problems for. If a black manager gets appointed, questions will immediately be raised – is he the best for the job, or did they just hire him to bring the number of black managers up in line with what the PFA want?

Stupid idea, stupid policy.

Remember, the aim is for equality. I just, personally, don’t see how that can be achieved by giving anyone an unfair advantage.

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KFC are at it again

KFC Corporation
Cotton pickin' colonel

Sky News reports that KFC are being pilloried for an advert that was released in Australia which found its way onto YouTube where Americans watched it and jumped on the “racist” bandwagon. I won’t go into more detail here, just read the story.

However. This isn’t the first time KFC have done this, only the last time the internet was a little smaller and I don’t think anyone noticed. In fact, I blogged about it back in 2005! It’s at the bottom of the quoted letter and about another advert that appeared in the UK for a brief period.

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KKK-westion

The KKK: Nazi salute and Holocaust denial
A racist with a small penis wearing a bedsheet

Dear Grand Wizard

For no real reason (although probably related to alcohol intake). discussion turned last night to “why do the KKK really hate Jews and coloured people?”. Seriously, I don’t get it. They claim to be Christian of some type or other and yet Jesus was Jewish. Chances are, he was also Arabic or some other “coloured” race that the KKK despise.

As for the blacks (sorry, for those who keep a list of whatever’s classed as politically correct at any moment in time – I’m going to say “black people” and don’t care if you think I’m racist because of it. I know I’m not and that’s all that counts) is it just a matter of fear or jealousy?

Look at the likes of Morgan Freeman and Samuel L Jackson. Guess their ages, then look them up online. Both guys have aged spectacularly well – and this is common in black (and indeed Asian) people compared to whites. I’m jealous of that.

Then there’s the fact that people of African descent have a great tendency towards athleticism. Look at the amazing football players and runners who are black. Hell, the guy who really embarrassed Hitler that Berlin Olympics all those years ago was black. Jesse Owens is one famous person from history I would love to meet and shake the hand of as he categorically proved that being tall, white and blonde doesn’t make you superior.

We could point towards the stereotype that black guys are somewhat better endowed in the trouser department, but I’d rather flip this around and go for the assumption that any of the bedsheet wearing freaks in Louisiana just have small penises and need something to take their futility out on. After all, black people don’t tend to marry their own sisters either.

And when was the last time a white supremacist released a classic album or was highly regarded for their musical skills? Check out the huge list of black artists from Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Michael Jackson (in the earlier days), Bob Marley

If a coloured person or organisation want to make a point they usually do it in public, pre-arranged and without their faces hidden behind something they ejaculated on at 7am the same morning. Sure there were riots many years back, but thankfully this is (to a large extent) a thing of the past. Given the climate in which many of these rallies were held, this shows that blacks – certainly at that time – were a hell of a lot braver than the cousin-shagging hillbillies with six toes on each foot.

Seriously, I just don’t understand what the KKK (and the BNP) have against coloured people. Unless they’re jealous. Or scared. After all, these seem to be the main reasons for starting wars and targetting people or peoples: you’re frightened of them or they have something you want.

If you want to see if taking action based on these emotions is worthwhile, ask some people who’ve done it. Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, George W Bush. Hardly a historical popularity list.

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Racism in (and around) football

I posted the following in response to Georgina Best’s article at For Girls Who Can’t Do Football. It came out a little longer than I intended, so thought I’d pop it on here. I also haven’t put anything up here for a few days… Please read that original post before continuing.

As Stuey [first commentor on the article] said, the Spanish fans are just as big a bunch of children as you could wish not to get stuck with.

Racial sensitivity in Spain might also not be as big an issue as it is in this country. I don’t know what the non-white population is in Spain. Without a notable presence and a government around to tell you how to behave around them, how will you know what’s racist?

Never mind drink driving, look at our TV programs 30 years ago. Bernard Manning, Stan Boardman, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Till Death Us Do Part… They’re not even repeated these days, let alone have modern-day versions.

Racism = bad. Over-reaction also = bad. And it’s a damned fine line between the two.

Having said all that, I approve of the punishment if it’s the only way to teach clubs to teach fans (although I doubt it’ll work in honesty), but it’s a kick in the teeth for other fans – such as Liverpool who’ve already paid for and organised travel and hotels for their trip there.

Surely due to the logistics, this match could have been made exempt from the ban? Or the ban could have been brought in, say, 3 weeks hence rather than immediately so as not to inconvenience non-Madrid/Spanish fans who wouldn’t have been involved in the first place?

No, wait. We’re talking about a football authority. Fans are the lowest of the low in their estimation.

Down there with the racists.

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