Sportsball and Racism

I completely agree with you that Ozil is making a strong and worthwhile stand.

I will go further. I think it's extremely important to make such stands, especially at this moment. There's been a rise in racism across Europe and the U.S.-- if not the actual sentiment, the expression of it. And as you allude with your reference to "Germany from WWI to WWII and the Dolchstoßlegende", it's important to call this shit out, not just ignore it and let it continue.

There have been a number of recent incidents in the U.S. where U.S. citizens of Hispanic or Muslim descent have been told to "go back where you came from" or referred to as "not real Americans". I'm a citizen and so were my parents, yet, due to my Hispanic last name, I've been on the receiving end of this sort of thing more than once. So, yeah, this happens here too. It happens everywhere there are immigrants, I imagine. But it's ugly and should be called out for what it is. We may never entirely kill it, but at least we can mark it as shameful and drive it back into the shadows.

There's something particularly yucky about the fact that some are happy to hail Ozil's accomplishments as German when he's successful -- but "other" him when he doesn't score.

Racism is alive and well, same as it ever was.

Poet, that link didn't work for me and I didn't see the show, but I read about it. Trevor's general point was quite the opposite of the sentiment I saw elsewhere -- that the French team was so wonderfully diverse.

I don't see the applicability of the general point here either, but what do I know. I'd very much like to hear what our resident POC members think.















Oh wait, I guess we don't have any.

Yeah, I agree with you, I just don't know if I'm missing something. If it is as you suspect - editorializing for the left, with no basis in fact or sentiment of the French players or other French POC - it was very badly played.