Talking racism

If the old “bread and circuses” idea holds any truth, then as long as we are entertained, we will keep quiet and stay in our place. Two of the biggest circus arenas are popular music and modern sport, entertaining millions of us and keeping our attention away from the failings of the ruling elite.

Let the working man have his football, let the kids have their noisy dance music, and God forbid that the stars of the show should ever use their platform to comment on problems that cripple the nation.

That is what it felt like this weekend, when on two separate instances celebrities called out racism in the United Kingdom. The reactions to their statements prove just how much we need to speak out on this topic in the first place.

First, we had Stormzy, the grime superstar, who is no stranger to political controversy, putting it on record (literally) that the government is not to be trusted and vocalising a generation’s disdain for our current prime minister, Boris Johnson.

In response to a question over whether the UK is still racist, he told Italian newspaper La Repubblica “definitely, 100 percent”. This was swiftly and erroneously translated into headlines claiming Stormzy had said that the UK is 100 percent racist, followed by a social media troll-a-thon from people who think he is getting too big for his boots, citing a list of crimes against knowing your place. Highlights include accusations of ungratefulness and even calls for Stormzy to consider returning to his ethnic home of Ghana. Oh, the audacity.

Then, in the “ivory tower” of the Sky Sports pundit box, we found former football player Gary Neville having the nerve to state, on camera, following a racist incident during the Tottenham vs Chelsea game, that racism is an endemic problem not only in UK football, but in UK society at large – not least of all within the country’s dominant political parties.

It was a special moment, seeing this loyal representative of English football so frustrated by racism in the beautiful game that he could not help but steam into the breadth of the problem, on the pitch and beyond. It was a move that was met with a real-time shush-shushing from Sky Sports presenter David Jones, who felt the need to add a disclaimer to Neville’s comments, saying that they were not the views of Sky Sports. Jones has since apologised, tweeting that he is “sorry to have spoiled ... an important discussion on racism”.

Apart from both being well-known British men, Neville and Stormzy represent very different corners: one very much an established member of one of the country’s most enduring sporting traditions, the other – the ultimate outsider, son of immigrants from a former colony, finding success in marginalised black music and breaking through from a plucky underdog into people’s champion.

Excerpted from:‘Talking racism in the UK’.

AlJazeera.com