You capture the tension of being both celebrated and criticized in the public eye with clarity. I’m curious—how do you stay grounded and maintain focus when the backlash isn’t just about the work, but feels personal? Appreciate the honesty in this!
This piece held me at the edge of my seat like a full on footy match. I don’t even support AFC but you could’ve persuaded me to rethink this😂 But on the real it’s the fans that hold the cuffs and should do more to start the conversations about how players should be portrayed. There is a looming bias when it comes to melanated players in regards to the other side and that has long overplayed its side as each brings a piece to the field and should be respected as such. Mentoring is the go to support for all sides at the moment so any other solutions would have to be pushed by the mainstream fans and fanatics. A very thought provoking piece nonetheless. Can we get you on match of the day?🤔
Thanks for this one Reggie - such an important conversation that we should never stop having. I loosely follow football (the whole entire family is Team Arsenal - I don't have a choice!) but the racism in football is one of the main reasons I say 'loosely'. I just can't get behind it. After all these years, racism in football is still so loud. And beyond the pitch, the same patterns can be seen in the workplace, education, society. Black people have to be perfect to access basic respect, and even then, it's conditional. One mistake and the whole thing can come tumbling down.
The pressure to constantly perform and be excellent is quite frankly, exhausting. The fact these young boys have to face this so early pains me. Yes, the strength they show is incredible - but it shouldn't be necessary. I hate that we even have to be “resilient” all the time. We shouldn't have to live life in survival mode as a default.
Sometimes I think about what it would look like if more of us took the leap and played for or built lives in our true home countries. However, Western conditioning is deep, and to break out of it you have to decide to make a real radical change. And that kind of courage can only come with age and experience - I wouldn't expect an 18 year old to make that kind of leap, tbh.
I’ve personally given up on hoping this country will change. It’s very much giving Stockholm Syndrome at this point - we need to break away from hoping the same system that abuses us will suddenly protect us. It won’t. That being said, building the courage to unsubscribe from the system is also a battle in itself. But I guess we have to decide which one is worth fighting for. Until then, support, mentorship, safe spaces and community (like the one you're creating here!) is what holds us up. But I very much look forward to the day where we can just be.
That pressure you speak of, is real and unhealthy heavy… loving your club and the people representing the badge makes conversations like this one, an important one to have.
Beautifully written facts upon facts. I’m a mixed race guy and grew up in an all white part of the country in the 80’s. Always having to be 10 x better than my white friends in class to get any recognition, suffering racist abuse constantly but only from the white kids, teachers never did anything about it, and then when I started to toughen up and stand up for myself, I was labelled as having a ‘chip’ on my shoulder and would be the one that would get disciplined for my ‘bad attitude’
I say all this because I too have thought for years that these players get treated different by the media and it brings back all those frustrations I had as a kid.
40 years on and it’s still happening! Madness.
I’m an Arsenal fan myself although not from London (Sorry Reg 🙄) so this hits different.
I’m not sure what the solution is but highlighting it in such an articulately penned article definitely helps. 👊🏽
Thanks for reading Jay… solutions don’t seem to be on the wider agenda, so for now, mentorship and support systems thankfully seem high on the clubs priority list.
As a fan who can’t ignore such a gross recurring pattern repeated since we were kids, it’s amazing to see these young players strength and talent being so undeniable…
The least we can do as fans is highlight the bias and hopefully start the conversation in earnest.
You capture the tension of being both celebrated and criticized in the public eye with clarity. I’m curious—how do you stay grounded and maintain focus when the backlash isn’t just about the work, but feels personal? Appreciate the honesty in this!
The two are connected, impossible to separate if you have a pulse...
This piece held me at the edge of my seat like a full on footy match. I don’t even support AFC but you could’ve persuaded me to rethink this😂 But on the real it’s the fans that hold the cuffs and should do more to start the conversations about how players should be portrayed. There is a looming bias when it comes to melanated players in regards to the other side and that has long overplayed its side as each brings a piece to the field and should be respected as such. Mentoring is the go to support for all sides at the moment so any other solutions would have to be pushed by the mainstream fans and fanatics. A very thought provoking piece nonetheless. Can we get you on match of the day?🤔
There’s still time for you to become an Arsenal fan… just sayin’
And as for your suggestion… I could be wrong, but I’m as close to positive as humanly possible that I’d be awful of MOTD.
Nobody needs my ‘Everything should be about Arsenal’ bias ass, on screen. 😂
Thanks for this one Reggie - such an important conversation that we should never stop having. I loosely follow football (the whole entire family is Team Arsenal - I don't have a choice!) but the racism in football is one of the main reasons I say 'loosely'. I just can't get behind it. After all these years, racism in football is still so loud. And beyond the pitch, the same patterns can be seen in the workplace, education, society. Black people have to be perfect to access basic respect, and even then, it's conditional. One mistake and the whole thing can come tumbling down.
The pressure to constantly perform and be excellent is quite frankly, exhausting. The fact these young boys have to face this so early pains me. Yes, the strength they show is incredible - but it shouldn't be necessary. I hate that we even have to be “resilient” all the time. We shouldn't have to live life in survival mode as a default.
Sometimes I think about what it would look like if more of us took the leap and played for or built lives in our true home countries. However, Western conditioning is deep, and to break out of it you have to decide to make a real radical change. And that kind of courage can only come with age and experience - I wouldn't expect an 18 year old to make that kind of leap, tbh.
I’ve personally given up on hoping this country will change. It’s very much giving Stockholm Syndrome at this point - we need to break away from hoping the same system that abuses us will suddenly protect us. It won’t. That being said, building the courage to unsubscribe from the system is also a battle in itself. But I guess we have to decide which one is worth fighting for. Until then, support, mentorship, safe spaces and community (like the one you're creating here!) is what holds us up. But I very much look forward to the day where we can just be.
That pressure you speak of, is real and unhealthy heavy… loving your club and the people representing the badge makes conversations like this one, an important one to have.
Beautifully written facts upon facts. I’m a mixed race guy and grew up in an all white part of the country in the 80’s. Always having to be 10 x better than my white friends in class to get any recognition, suffering racist abuse constantly but only from the white kids, teachers never did anything about it, and then when I started to toughen up and stand up for myself, I was labelled as having a ‘chip’ on my shoulder and would be the one that would get disciplined for my ‘bad attitude’
I say all this because I too have thought for years that these players get treated different by the media and it brings back all those frustrations I had as a kid.
40 years on and it’s still happening! Madness.
I’m an Arsenal fan myself although not from London (Sorry Reg 🙄) so this hits different.
I’m not sure what the solution is but highlighting it in such an articulately penned article definitely helps. 👊🏽
Thanks for reading Jay… solutions don’t seem to be on the wider agenda, so for now, mentorship and support systems thankfully seem high on the clubs priority list.
As a fan who can’t ignore such a gross recurring pattern repeated since we were kids, it’s amazing to see these young players strength and talent being so undeniable…
The least we can do as fans is highlight the bias and hopefully start the conversation in earnest.