Be Like Raheem
It’s an interesting time to be a scholar in athlete activism…
Tonight the Premier League returns, with the players sporting “Black Lives Matter” on the back of their shirts and Aston Villa and Sheffield United players and officials taking a knee. This raises some interesting questions when considering the political role of the athlete.
The unique thing about this is that the mainstream media has not historically supported footballers to promote any kind of “political agenda”; Raheem Sterling, in particular, has suffered immeasurably from a full on racist assault by the British press. But in a sudden u-turn, now the press, and the pundits, are celebrating Sterling as the voice of this movement.
But, if the Premier League, the FA, or any other sports league, are serious about supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, it will take more than novelty shirts and a cursory nod to the cause. Racism remains rife in the Premier League and throughout the English Football League system, and despite UEFA’s latest three-step system, we are yet to see a significant impact on racism in games. We’re also yet to see any professional team in the UK walk off the pitch due to racism. I’ve mainly seen White athletes praised for asking players of colour to “calm down” or “not let it get to them”, rather than supporting their anger, upset and outrage; this is not allyship. This is not to mention that John Terry still has a job at Chelsea.
Lest we forget, whilst the Premier League takes a knee and sports these shirts for their first 12 games, in the US Colin Kaepernick still hasn’t played a game in the NFL since 2016. The shocking (but not totally surprising) part is, Kaepernick took a knee for the exact same reasons that the Arsenal and Manchester City players are wearing these shirts - police violence in the US. So, do we just consider this a difference between the UK and the US? Is the UK just that much more of an inclusive place? Of course not. This is a change in the widespread acceptance of the Black Lives Matter movement.
After the murder of George Floyd, and the worldwide protests that have erupted, it seems that the BLM movement has become one accepted by a myriad of political persuasions. It seems to be generally accepted now, at this moment, (and it seems wild to have to make such an obvious statement) that it is not ok for police to keep routinely killing people of colour. So, the fact that this “opinion” has become widely accepted means it’s rather uncontroversial for the Premier League to allow the players to represent BLM. But does this mean that we are (at least in the UK) finally permitting athletes to do more than just “shut up and play”? Will we stop seeing athletes berated for using their platform to further equality?
Given that Kaepernick remains unemployed and, in today’s personal experience, because I was told by a football fan at work today that Marcus Rashford’s campaign for food vouchers for those in poverty (see here) was “obnoxious” and that he’s “showing off” by campaigning publicly, I think the answer might be no.
It is, as pundits said today, “great to see footballers taking a knee”, but it would be even better to see the Premier League use its huge platform to enact some real change.
