The Africa Daily Show discusses racial discrimination in sports. Watch the full discussion via https://bit.ly/3mduvng
Lewis Hamilton became Formula One’s first black driver in 2007. Lewis developed a rivalry with Spanish teammate and double world champion Fernando Alonso, resulting in him being the target of racial abuse for Spanish fans. During pre-season testing in the 2008 Formula One season, several Spanish fans were seen dressed in black, with shirts bearing the words ‘Hamilton’s family’ and made racist chants.
Although faced with many challenges, Lewis was not deterred and went on to win world championship titles. Racial discrimination is any form of prejudice against any individual on the basis of their skin colour, race or ethnic origin. Such abuse may arise from fandom, patriotism, and rage.
Racial discrimination has recurring problems around the world inclusively in sports. In sports, racial discrimination can be extremely bad, some sports persons quit the sport to pursue other professions. Some examples of racial discrimination in football, include the Euro 2020 qualifier match between England and Bulgaria, where the match was stopped twice after Bulgarian fans shouted racist chants at the English players, with four fans being arrested after the match.
Another incident was in August 2021, during the second day of a test match between England and India at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, where English spectators allegedly shouted racist comments at the Indian cricket team and shouting ‘Delta’ at supporters of the Indian cricket team, in reference to the Delta variant of SARS‑CoV‑2. As you can understand racial discrimination is still active in sports and there is a need to tackle it.
Hence, many organizations have been formed over the years to fight against such racism in sports. Some of such organizations are FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe) network, Show Racism the Red Card, Racism Breaks the Game, and Kick It Out. Kick It Out was established as a campaign with the brand name ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football’ in 1993 and as an organization in 1997.
The organization works within the football, educational, and community sectors to challenge discrimination, encourage inclusive practices and work for positive change. Also the Race Against Racism campaign launched by FIFA after the Lewis Hamilton incident gave awareness and fought racial discrimination.
Another example of organizations formed to fight against racism is the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement which protests against all racially motivated violence against black people. This movement began in July 2013, with the the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter trending on social media. BLM has grown over the years and has become notable in sports, with various sportsmen, including Lewis Hamilton, taking a kneel in solidarity with the movement.
With such organizations fighting against racial discrimination, a lot more people are becoming aware of such racism and are coming together to further the fight against racial discrimination in sports.
Famous African American activist, Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
The Africa Daily Show discusses racial dicrimination in sports. Watch the full discussion via https://bit.ly/3mduvng
