Is Racism Getting worse in the UK

[Deleted member 15344]

Over the last couple of weeks we have seen numerous incidents of racist abuse towards footballers abroad which was rightly condemned but a lot of people have said that before we start pointing fingers at other nations maybe we should start to look closer to home

For a while it seems that the racist abuse on football stands in the UK is either getting worse or being highlighted more - there was issues Salah had from the West Ham fans , a few Spurs and Chelsea issues and now it seems every weekend or every time there is a match day there are reports of abuse on the stands , abuse on social media

So is it getting worse or being highlighted more and the big question- what happens next ? Is it time for big punishments?

 

[Deleted member 21784]

Like anything technology has highlighted that the problem has never gone away

Publically some condemn racism whilst chanting it when they can’t be seen..

Now cameras are everywhere we just pick up on it more

 

[HomerJSimpson]

It has always been there. It just seems to be the hot media topic of the moment aside from Brexit. That doesn't make it right and it needs dealing with (easier said than done) but I'm not convinced its any more prevalent than a decade or indeed the 80' when I watched football home and away and it was rife and ignored

 

[Deleted member 21784]

It has always been there. It just seems to be the hot media topic of the moment aside from Brexit. That doesn't make it right and it needs dealing with (easier said than done) but I'm not convinced its any more prevalent than a decade or indeed the 80' when I watched football home and away and it was rife and ignored

Some might say the hot topic has caused it to rise .. go home and all that

 

[bluewolf]

I think the line has shifted relatively recently and people who wouldn't have said anything a few years ago are now getting a bit bolder.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Some might say the hot topic has caused it to rise .. go home and all that

You may be right. Brexit has definitely added an element to it and we've already had some of our nurses being told "we won't have to be seen by you foreigners once we get British nurses in after Brexit". Hardly alarming at all is it?

 

[bluewolf]

"And that Guv, is exactly when the thread went downhill. Someone mentioned the B word and it went down like a $5 hooker"

 

[Deleted member 21784]

You may be right. Brexit has definitely added an element to it and we've already had some of our nurses being told "we won't have to be seen by you foreigners once we get British nurses in after Brexit". Hardly alarming at all is it?

Instead you won’t be seen because of a nursing shortage would be my reply

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Instead you won’t be seen because of a nursing shortage would be my reply

And my answer is why should our staff be subject to such comments. I come from South West London, but close enough to places like Tooting, Wandsworth and Brixton to see the issues of racisim in the 80's and the police behaviour that fuelled it. No surprise it was rife on the terraces. That was then though and as a multi cultural nation you'd hope society and the powers would have a better handle on it. It is still there every day but I don't know it's getting worse

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I've ticked no but that doesn't mean I think the situation is okay, I just don't think it is worse than when I was growing up in the 80's or 90's. I think the racists now have a platform on social media that didn't exist before so they sound louder. I believe there are fewer of them as more generations are coming through that don't have race hang ups.

In terms of football fans are now being called out for behaviour that was previously brushed over. A shout that would make people cringe but stewards ignored is now being picked up on and dealt with.

Incidents and arrests may well go up but that is a distortion because the problem is finally being dealt with. Police arrest results often have this issue. A chief constable decides to concentrate on a specific area of crime, arrests go up before they come down. You have to be patient to allow the good work to show.

I say this but I live in a part of the country that is not particularly multicultural, no unpleasant reason for that, so I accept my view could be out of touch.

 

[Hobbit]

It is on the increase, and that's right across Europe. You've only got to look at the rise of far right, nationalist parties throughout the EU to recognise there is a growing ground swell of support for those parties. Worryingly, there's a recent piece in one of the European papers about a proposed alliance of nationalist parties in the European Parliament in an effort to take control of that parliament from the centre-left.

Also the tone of it in the UK has changed considerably. In the 60's and 70's it was fuelled by ignorance. Hell, I can remember the toxic atmosphere created by Enoch Powell, and the race riots in the 60's. Education and legislation has seen some changes, e.g. you won't see a "Till death us do part," or "Rising damp," on TV anymore. Nowadays its also fuelled by anger, e.g. doctor's appointments and the 'cry' of if the country wasn't so crowded by immigrants.

And when you add the (almost) legitimising of targeting immigrants by politicians like Farage and Tommy Robinson, a culture of hatred prospers. The law is there to deal with racism, and it is dealt with harshly, but where are the resources to tackle it? The idiots are emboldened by an undercurrent of institutional support and the lack of resources to tackle it.

And if racism is an issue, lets not forget where anti-semitism fits into the jigsaw. It is also a form of racism.

 

[TheDiablo]

Over the last couple of weeks we have seen numerous incidents of racist abuse towards footballers abroad which was rightly condemned but a lot of people have said that before we start pointing fingers at other nations maybe we should start to look closer to home

For a while it seems that the racist abuse on football stands in the UK is either getting worse or being highlighted more - there was issues Salah had from the West Ham fans , a few Spurs and Chelsea issues and now it seems every weekend or every time there is a match day there are reports of abuse on the stands , abuse on social media

So is it getting worse or being highlighted more and the big question- what happens next ? Is it time for big punishments?

If you look to judge a nation by its football fans, nobody will come out well.

 

[Kellfire]

The elephant in the room right now is obviously Brexit.

Whatever happens in terms of the logistics of leaving the EU, the likes of Farage and Robinson and concerted efforts to use social media to whip voters into a hate-filled frenzy has lead to an increase of blatant displays of racism with people now baying for blood in an attempt to overcome what they perceive as a lack of adherence to their democratic rights and an insult to their British sovereignty.

The lunatic right wing are using this chance to stir the pot and are seemingly being successful in getting more and more people to align themselves with notions that “white is right” and that we can’t trust “immigrants” because all they do is leech from our benefits system and form rape gangs that target white girls.

So yes - I do think it’s getting worse and it won’t stop for a long time whilst we have the current political situation which is just fuel to an always simmering fire.

 

[Neilds]

Not just racism, intolerance on the whole is on the rise. No one seems to be able to put forward a point of view on anything without someone jumping down their throat

 

[Lyle77]

In terms of football, it is nowhere near as rife as it was in the 1980s when you had the NF giving out leaflets at football matches in London (West Ham and Chelsea).
You also had mass monkey chants directed at black players. A match that particuarly stands out is John Barnes playing at Goodison where he backheeled a banana thrown at him off the pitch. The abuse he suffered that night was dreadful but shamefully by no means out of the ordinary for the time period.

Political rhetoric from some Brexiteers has certainly emboldened people to more open expressly views which could be deemed to be racist.

 

[Scozzy]

Like pretty much most of the horrible human traits we are capable of, it's borne of ignorance and fear.Education can solve both but first you must want to learn....

 

[Bunkermagnet]

I think we have seen a rise in rascism, and more so since our politics took a very nationalistic tone.
However you will not stop rascism all the time some groups are allowed to use words other groups would be done for rascist language.

 

[howbow88]

You can't have this conversation without talking about Brexit. What Farage, Johnson, Robinson, etc are doing is enabling people that were keeping their backward opinions to themselves, to spout them publicly.

Whether racism is on the rise or whether it's now just being highlighted far more than it was 5 years ago, is a good question.

And things have changed massively in a short space of time. I watch old episodes of The Bill on TV, and at the moment they're up to about 2002. Some of the 'banter' that is had on there about gay blokes would potentially result in dismissal these days, but even just 17 years ago it was all laughed about.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

In the last 3 years...…...yes of course it has.
Pretty obvious to everyone I would have thought.
Thanks to the words and deeds of UKIP, EDL, ERG and the wrong halves of the two major political parties.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

In the last 3 years...…...yes of course it has.
Pretty obvious to everyone I would have thought.
Thanks to the words and deeds of UKIP, EDL, ERG and the wrong halves of the two major political parties.

And you don't think the SNP have also contributed?