What is clear this season is that it is not Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling who has changed. There has not been a personal epiphany where all of a sudden he has decided to become a spokesman for a generation. The social conscience has always been there. It is the rest of the narrative which has changed.
As a young black player being rewarded for excellent performances by high wages, Raheem Sterling has always found himself in a certain situation with the mainly conservative English press. Initially and ruthlessly pursued as some kind of a moral panic – a wealthy young black man – stories appeared with alarming frequency about him being full of “bling” and suggesting he was only “in it for the money”.
Of course it was obvious to any right thinking person that these stories were largely underpinned by a kind of latent and lazy racism. Where stereotypes are peddled to make people react and to buy news papers. It was also abundantly clear that these stories were fuelling a kind of a climate where low level racism is perceived almost as normal.
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It is probably worth pointing out too that history may also judge the context of the period as important in all of this. This has been a time of difficulty for the whole of Britain as stereotypes and lazy racism have contributed towards a peculiar climate where the abuse of Sterling has until now appeared as “normal” or at least a recognisable part of everyday life experiences for many. There are increasingly polarised parts of society in all of this and suddenly parts of the racism debate have coagulated and the changes in the response to Raheem may indicate there is a tipping point occurring, and we could be on the cusp of difficult change.
The press have started to back track and claim an amnesia about the abuse of Sterling they have helped to propagate through lazy journalism. The media has started a prolonged bout of virtue signalling – pointing out all and almost every other aspect of racism perpetrated against Raheem. And it seems that is beginning to take effect. The booing of Raheem seems to be drying up except in all but the corners of England impervious to reason.
What remains though is at least one uncomfortable fact. Uncomfortable for me anyway as a white middle aged man and that is why should Raheem have to become the poster boy of racism in order to effect change? He may well be happy accepting that responsibility and may well consider it just another part of trying to portray a positive image driven by social conscience. But I am uncomfortable that he needs to take responsibility for it.
As we saw amongst the Chelsea fans who propelled racist hate at Raheem during a Premier League game – the racists here are white men and it should be white men using their power and influence in the media to educate other white men to effect real change. It should not up to the abused to educate the abusers – it should not be seen as “their” problem because that can so easily be ignored.
If we want to really reduce the behaviour Raheem suffers then we should applaud the efforts he continues to make and the choices he continues to make about how best to live his life but others need to own the problem. It is important Gareth Southgate as England Manager and as a white role model speaks out on the racist treatment of his players and those words are carried far and wide.
Raheem may be the catalyst for a lasting change here but other people really need to own and tackle the problem. Now is not the time to stand in front of anodyne catchphrases but to develop meaningful approaches to tackle racism in football. It should not be about signalling the view UEFA takes on racist behaviour by imposing low fines on the rich. It should not be about punishing all fans for the behaviour of a minority. It should be about educating bigotry. And if that fails the racists should be banned because there is no place for them in our game.