Jul 15

Jul 15 Racism following England's Euro Cup loss stokes political firestorm By Jordan Conestabile

Sparked by the loss of the English national team in the Euro Cup final, fans took the streets of London and across England to express their displeasure. 19 police officers were injured. More than 40 fans were arrested. Social media became inundated with racial slurs against three black members of the National team, who failed to score in the penalty shootout.

“I will never apologize for who I am or where I come from,” said Marcus Rashford, one of players targeted. British government officials voiced their displeasure against acts of racism and committed to take action toward those involved.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and UK Home Secretary Priti Patel condemned the acts as appalling racial abuse and joined calls to ban those involved in racial taunts online from attending football games. Johnson and Patel previously supported fans’ right to boo England players who knelt in protest of racism prior to each game. This has garnered criticism from their opposition. Labour leader Angela Rayner compared them to “arsonists complaining about a fire they poured petrol on.”

Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees said “the abuse sends a message that there is an element of belonging in England that must be earned, maintained and validated by people whose belonging is an unquestionable birth right.” Rees wondered if this was “an expression of a hateful culture held by a few mindless individuals or something who’s origins are found to be somewhere deeper in our national soul.”

The belief among European nations remains that Black and Asian players are praised for success, yet particularly demonized when they fail. The English Football Association condemned all forms of discrimination and is moving forward in their efforts to eliminate racism from the game.

The Association placed additional blame on social media platforms for not being accountable in monitoring and holding those abusers accountable. Twitter removed over 1000 tweets and suspended multiple accounts.

Jordan Conestabile is a Political Science student at Utica College