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Online Newspaper which covers the criticism of the government's actions when it came to dealing with racism within the Euros. Also features words from Tyrone Mings, an England teammate who was part of the Euros.

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Senior members of the government have been accused of making "dog whistle comments" and failing to slap down racism in society.

Home Secretary Priti Patel condemned the social media abuse directed at England players Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho in the wake of Sunday's Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy, but was accused of having "stoked the fire" of racism in the past by their teammate Tyrone Mings.

He pointed to her failure to condemn those who booed the team's decision to take the knee before matches at the tournament, and her description of the act as "gesture politics".

The abuse targeted at the England players prompted a question in the House of Lords on Tuesday, and within the debate Baroness Jones, a Green Party peer, asked: "Surely the government can see that when senior politicians like our Prime Minister and Secretary of State for the Home Office make dog whistle comments and do not slap down racism, then the Cabinet itself, the government itself, has a problem?"

Baroness Barran, the Lords Minister for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said she did not accept Baroness Jones' comments and added: "She [the Home Secretary] has been crystal clear on this subject and the head secretary has also been clear that there is no place for racism in this country."

Lord Woolley of Woodford said he felt politicians had "encouraged" fans to boo the national team when taking the knee.

Baroness Barran said: "The Prime Minister has been absolutely clear that people should feel free to show their respect and condemn racism in whatever way they choose."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was meeting with representatives from social media giants Facebook, Instagram and Twitter on Tuesday to discuss the issue of online racist abuse.

A Downing Street spokesman said the Prime Minister would "reiterate the urgent need for action" and for the platforms to assist police investigations seeking to identify those suspected of perpetrating abuse.

An online petition calling for anyone found guilty of online or offline racist abuse to be banned from all football matches in England for life had attracted almost 900,000 signatures by 3pm on Tuesday afternoon.

Lord Triesman told the house he had sought such legislation during his time as chair of the Football Association, but that it urgently needed to be revisited so that there were "no excuses, no second chances" for those guilty of racist offences.

Baroness Barran said: "The government is well aware that football banning orders can have a great effect on those implicated and this is one of the things that we're looking at."

Lord Mann asked whether the Football Spectators Act 1989 could be amended so that banning orders include online hatred as an offence, to give the government greater powers in tackling the issue. Baroness Barran told him she would take his suggestion back to her department.

Lord Dobbs urged Liberal Democrat members of the house to speak to former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg - now the vice-president of global affairs and communications at Facebook - to draw to his attention to "the difference between his previous principles and his current position".

Lord Dobbs added: "Surely he should be encouraged to take a lead and do so much more in fighting this sort of racism and bring us back to a position where we can actually get on with the beauty of the English game?"

Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden offered support to his England teammates, hitting out at the "disgusting" racist abuse.

"Being part of this group has meant so much. Winning together, losing together and always sticking together," Foden wrote on Twitter.

"We're all hurting right now, but the racist abuse sent to some of my teammates after the bravery they showed on Sunday night is disgusting and has no place in the game."

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Government accused of failing to 'slap down racism' as England trio suffer abuse

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Senior members of the government have been accused of making "dog whistle comments" and failing to slap down racism in society. Home Secretary Priti Patel condemned the social media abuse directed at England players Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho in the wake of Sunday's Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy, but was accused of having "stoked the fire" of racism in the past by their teammate Tyrone Mings.

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Interview with Marvin Bartley, a professional footballer who discusses when he was racially abused in warm up.

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‘I laughed because I knew abuse was coming’

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BBC Sport speaks to Livingston captain Marvin Bartley as part of a new documentary, Football, Racism and Social Media.

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A Tweet from Bukayo Saka in the aftermath of the racism. This will be particularly good to bring in when discussing the burner accounts, and social media not doing enough etc.

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pic.twitter.com/KAibQRYH2T
— Bukayo Saka (@BukayoSaka87) July 15, 2021

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This image shows current PM Boris Johnson kicking a football. During the European Championships, Johnson and the rest of the government refused to condemn fans booing the England National Team when they took the knee prior to kick off. This image has been chosen to show that the government have failed to nail down on racism, but also how they are a little hypocritical with their 'anti-racism' stance.

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This image shows the back page of an Italian newspaper, which features a headline based off the colour of the two footballers' skin. It is supposed to be clever, and catchy, but instead has been slammed by the stars for racism. This image is important as it shows how not only the media, but also social media, have played a part in escalating racism within sport.

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This image shows Manchester United star Marcus Rashford taking the knee, prior to kick off. This image is important as it reflects the fight against racism within sport, and has become an integral part of this before matches over the last year and a half.

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Online Article which discusses how quickly fans can change their views on a player when they win or lose. There's a good quote here which I want to include.

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In the penalty shoot-out that saw Italy defeat England in the UEFA Euro 2020 final, the skill of the goalkeepers was overshadowed by the perceived failure of the English players who missed their shots. Three young players - Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka - were subjected to torrents of anti-black racist abuse.

One of the worst things about this racism was how predictable it was. Racism has long been found in European sports, and is intensified when players of colour are put in the spotlight during major international competitions. A tweet in response to the harassment captures this phenomenon: "When you score, you're English. When you miss, you're an immigrant."

It wasn't only English players who experienced such treatment during the tournament. French player Kylian Mbappé faced online abuse when Swiss goalie Yann Somer successfully defended his penalty in the second-round clash that sent les bleus home. Racist abuse resurfaces constantly.

The massive increase in the visibility and popularity of sports over the past century, thanks to television, radio and the internet, has intensified the way that fans relate to players as local and national representatives. Athletes become the face of a nation, and many of us pin patriotic hopes, fears and frustrations on them. See this oft-cited quote from historian Eric Hobsbawm about the power of football to capture national feelings: "The ... imagined community of millions seems more real as a team of 11 named people."

When visibly diverse teams win world cups, it is seen as an anti-racist triumph. It is one reason South Africa's win in the 1995 rugby world cup was so symbolic, coming so soon after the collapse of apartheid. The French men's football team inspired waves of pride in French multiculturalism after their 1998 and 2018 wins. This was symbolised in the slogan Black-Blanc-Beur (Black-White-North African) - a riff on bleu-blanc-rouge (blue, white and red) the colours of the French flag.

But the idea of achieving racial harmony through diverse sports teams has sparked controversy. Historian Laurent Dubois detailed how the national joy of winning a tournament glosses over difficult histories of racism and exclusion in his book on France's "soccer empire".

Also, the celebrations last only as long as the win. Research has shown that when visibly diverse teams lose, existing exclusionary and racist nationalist undercurrents rise to the surface, manifesting as denial that players of colour belong to the nation. If the team is not "us", then "we" didn't lose. It wasn't the nation, or "my" people that failed, it was this interloper.

This can take different forms in nations where white people aren't the majority, but the underlying vitriol is the same. For example, Muslim Indian sports stars have been subjected to such abuse in their own countries, as have Japanese players with black heritage.

Racism and reality

Such abuse is a particularly ugly mix of grief, fandom, patriotism, rage and scapegoating. In the case of the English players, it denies the reality of their birth, citizenship and cultural upbringing in England - and the history that has made the country, and Europe more widely, a profoundly mixed and ethnically diverse space.

When fans engage in racist abuse, they are targeting players because they are seen as "not belonging". Perhaps rejecting them feels safer than rejecting people who share an imaginary "genuine" white national identity, and strengthens a sense of superiority. Doing this requires both forgetting and reinvention, and suggests deep insecurity about one's own identity.

Lilian Thuram's assessment of the racism he received from so-called "fans" was more generous. As Dubois wrote,

He has repeatedly said and written that the problem is simply that they are caught up in a way of thinking, and that they haven't had the opportunity to escape that.

Sociologists, historians, art critics, anti-racist activists and media scholars would agree with Thuram about the scale of the problem. There is a long, deep and pervasive tradition of designating players of colour in Europe as "other" than the norm and as being more "physical" or less "strategic".

It is no coincidence that only 3.9% of coaches in Europe's 14 biggest leagues have an ethnic minority background. Researcher Irene Blum and anti-racism activist John Oliveira noted that this replicates age-old historic patterns of black labourers and white owners supported by scientific racism, slavery and colonialism.

Could we, then, move beyond the abusive denial of history into a more mature and joyous fandom and national pride? A mural of Marcus Rashford - defaced by racists then transformed by fans and supporters into a moving site of honour and respect - bears witness to this potential.

It remains to be seen whether - and how - government will take action. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has suggested that fans spreading racism online could be banned from matches. His critics have accused him of hypocrisy, saying Johnson helped stoke such responses by refusing to condemn booing over players taking the knee.

Perhaps this latest ugliness will achieve a transformation from scientific reports and policy documents to action and structural change. That would take commitment from (social) media, funders, coaches, players, training academies, and also from fans. It might take penalties to achieve, but it is a noble goal.

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Racism in sport: why it comes to the surface when teams lose

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In the penalty shoot-out that saw Italy defeat England in the UEFA Euro 2020 final, the skill of the goalkeepers was overshadowed by the perceived failure of the English players who missed their shots. Three young players - Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka - were subjected to torrents of anti-black racist abuse.

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Online Article which discusses the origin and psychology of racism. A nice way to begin my first paragraph by outlining what it is, and also a further insight in the possible reasons behind racism.

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The psychological study of racism can be summed up in one word: evolving. How society thinks about race and racism has changed and with it, the psychological discourse has changed as well.

Many Americans, particularly White Americans, were complacent going into the year 2020. When the coronavirus pandemic started, the complacency started to wane and was replaced with fear and a sense of unrest. When George Floyd was killed in police custody on May 25, 2020, a bright spotlight was redirected to an uncomfortable reality that most BIPOC Americans already knew: Racism is still alive and well in America.

With the added spotlight has come a renewed interest in understanding racism. This article discusses the psychology of racism, including historical perspectives as well as more current views on the individual and systemic nature of racism.

Psychological History of Racism

The psychological understanding of racism has historically been focused on individual psychology-how racism is driven by the beliefs and behaviors of individual people (the social-psychological approach). But there are severe limitations to viewing racism solely through this lens.

Today, some researchers are using and advocating for a cultural-psychological approach, which views racism as ideas and practices embedded in culture, where individuals shape culture and culture shapes individuals.

Early Theories of Racism

Early psychological theories of racism justified the domination of one race over another because of Charles Darwin's concept of survival of the fittest. It was theorized that there was some survival advantage to being racist. However, modern hunter-gatherer tribes were not found to exclude out-groups (people not included in a particular group), and this problematic theory was rejected.

Then, race psychology theorized that there were brain differences between races and that intelligence tests and segregation were the answer. Later in 1954, American psychologist Gordon Allport argued in his book, "The Nature of Prejudice," that people use categories to understand their world better and that racism was simply an artifact of that process.

Whatever the history of the psychology of racism is in the United States, the actual history of racism is that White people have been and continue to be afforded benefits in society because of a system that was set up for their benefit. Racism is real regardless of whether White people recognize or accept it.

Recap

Prejudice vs. Racism

Many people misunderstand and confuse the definitions of racism and prejudice. Though related, they are different.

Prejudice is a negative preconception or attitude toward members of a group based on shared characteristics such as race, ethnicity, sex, sexuality, age, religion, language, class, or culture. Prejudice can be racial, but it can also be sexist, ageist, or classist, for example.

Prejudiced beliefs are usually learned early in life and can affect behavior in subtle and overt ways. For example, a teacher with prejudice might hold the belief that girls aren't good at math. That belief would then affect the teacher's behavior with their students, whether consciously or subconsciously.

In contrast, racism is directed at a particular racial group and is based on systems of power and oppression. Racism is often seen as being a problem with individual racial prejudice, but it is important to recognize that it is much more multifaceted and systemic.

People commonly think of racism in terms of overt individual actions and ideologies (the social-psychological understanding), but it also exists within systems, organizations, and cultures (the cultural-psychological understanding). In this way, racism is embedded in the reality of everyday life.

Since racism is part of daily life, cultural patterns, and historical narratives in the U.S., it is often difficult for people to see how familiar and normalized ideas promote racialized views and behaviors.

Racism isn't just about individuals demonstrating racial prejudice or engaging in direct acts of racial discrimination; it is often less immediately obvious and much more insidious, affecting institutions like the justice system, in which Black defendants regularly face harsher sentences than White defendants for the same crimes, for example.

Phia S. Salter, Glenn Adams, and Michael J. Perez in "Current Directions in Psychological Science"

While most blatant individual demonstrations of racism are no longer tolerated or viewed as acceptable in "mainstream" contemporary American society, our society's understanding of what is racist continues to evolve. In reality, our institutions are not so far removed from the years of colonialism, slavery, and segregation, and racism is still ignored, condoned, or even actively supported in many facets of American life.

Recap

Cultural Tools That Perpetuate Racism

The dominant American culture's discomfort with race and racism continues to result in harmful beliefs and sentiments that promote ignorance about racism and uphold the racial status quo. Perhaps you've heard someone say that they are "color-blind," "don't see color," or that "race doesn't matter." Maybe you've even said something to that effect yourself.

Those ideas, though often promoted as inclusive, actually shut down important conversations about race and deny the fact that racism exists not only on an individual level but as a systemic problem. It's the same responding to " Black Lives Matter" with "All Lives Matter."

This denial of the significance of race is a tool that allows the dominant racial group to legitimize the effectsof racism under the guise of individual merit. Through this lens, people in positions of power can credit their successes to their own hard work while positioning the disadvantages oppressed racial groups face to personal rather than systemic failures.

Continuing to support this individualistic American narrative results in blindness to the realities of America's racist systems. For example, research has shown in no uncertain terms that Black Americans experience disparities in income, employment, education, and health. But research shows that White Americans still tend to be less aware of these racial realities than people who are part of racial minority groups.

Explanations for Racism

As more attention is being given to the racism ingrained in our society, many more people are seeking explanations for it. Is it survival of the fittest, or a psychological defense mechanism to help people identify with a primary group and feel more secure? Below is a list of possible psychological explanations for why racism exists.

Personal Insecurity

It's true that those who lack an identity and struggle with insecurity may seek group membership. Consequently, after finding a group, members of the group may start to alienate non-group members. Sometimes, hostility arises toward those people who have been alienated.

While in a clique, people tend to think and behave more like the people they surround themselves with. It becomes much easier to attack others when you're among people who share the same viewpoint. Racism comes in when groups are formed based on characteristics like race, bolstered by beliefs of superiority, and supported by systems of oppression.

Lack of Compassion

Alienation of others eventually leads to less compassion for those who have been ostracized. People begin to only show compassion and empathy for those they regularly associate with.

Consider, for example, television segments asking viewers to donate to causes that support food security for families in Africa. These messages may be easier for a person to dismiss if they don't identify with the group or culture in need. This dismissal may or may not be overt racism, but it begins with a lack of empathy.

Projection of Flaws

When people feel bad about themselves or recognize their shortcomings, instead of dealing with them and trying to fix them, they may project their self-loathing onto others. Alienated groups can easily become scapegoats for those who ignore their own personal flaws.

Poor Mental Health

Is racism a sign of poor mental health? Not necessarily, but it can be. For example, paranoid personality disorder and narcissism are both mental health disorders that are characterized in part by feelings of insecurity, which may make a person more likely to hold racist beliefs or engage in racist behaviors. But it's important to recognize that racist beliefs and actions are certainly not limited to people with mental health disorders.

Hatred and Fear

Extreme hatred is almost always based on fear. People may feel threatened by people they view as "different" or "foreign." They may fear losing power. To combat this fear, some people may seek social support from others with similar fears, perpetuating the cycle.

Recap

Factors That Contribute to Racism

In a 2020 paper published in the journal American Psychologist, Steven O. Roberts, a Stanford psychologist, and Michael T. Rizzo, a New York University postdoctoral fellow, discuss what leads to racism. With their paper, the authors aimed to provide an overview of several of the major factors theorized to contribute to racism in America. Those factors are the following.

Categories

Humans learn to group people into categories based on race from a young age. Roberts and Rizzo hold that racial categories are not inborn but become significant because "they are federally sanctioned (e.g., by the U.S. Census Bureau), easily employed by individuals, and because they directly tell people which racial categories to form."

Category labels can support a belief that category members have a shared identity, which promotes stereotypes. This categorical grouping and the concept of shared identity later lead to factions.

Categories lead to factions in which people are assigned to a racial group and begin to strongly identify with their racial ingroup. Positive perceptions of their assigned racial group and the desire to show cooperation, loyalty, and empathy to the group commonly lead to behavior that benefits the group, even to the detriment of another group.

Beyond loyalty to their own group, group members can also begin to show hostility toward other groups as a result of real or perceived competition or threats to their self-image, values, or resources.

Segregation

Being segregated from other racial groups greatly influences attitudes and feelings about race. Lack of contact with other racial groups tends to narrow and harden a person's beliefs and opinions about others and offers few chances for negative beliefs to be challenged. That is why segregation by race early in life can influence the development of racist attitudes.

A hierarchical system assigns wealth, power, and influence unevenly across groups. Hierarchies are further reinforced by beliefs that attribute power and status to individual characteristics rather than systematic influences, ultimately resulting in the dominant group believing that they are, in fact, superior to non-dominant groups.

Power grants groups the ability to build a society that benefits them. It also allows them to create what are considered to be culturally acceptable standards. They control resources and are allowed to exploit others and assume dominance. When power is distributed along racial divides as it is in the U.S., so are advantages.

The media plays a role in sustaining racism. On one level there is simply representation (or lack thereof). When media consistently portrays a mostly White cast of actors in magazines, television shows, and movies, it makes the White culture the "dominant" or "normal" American culture.

On another level, there is how the media portrays racial groups. When media reinforces racial stereotypes in its representation of different racial groups, it also reinforces individual racial prejudice and the systems that perpetuate institutionalized racism.

The final factor Roberts and Rizzo describe is perhaps the most important. It is the passive racism that results from ignorance, apathy, or denial. When racism is systemic and ingrained in social structures, all that is required to sustain it is inaction. People do not need to be actively racist in their beliefs and actions to support racist systems-they simply need to do nothing to change those systems.

Recap

Combating Racism and Promoting Anti-Racism

When faced with the sheer magnitude of racism in America, it can be easy to feel powerless. But there are things you can do on an individual level to influence both interpersonal racism and systemic racism. Below are some ways in which racism can be combated on an individual level:

Build a system of equity in which all communities are equally engaged.

Direct attention to the problem of racism instead of sweeping it under the rug or pretending that it does not exist.

When you hear racist attitudes, challenge them; ask people for the reason behind their thinking and encourage them to consider alternatives.

Remember that change does not occur overnight and be patient when it seems like the progress being made is slow; even small changes can lead to big results when you are consistent in your actions.

Teach children inclusion and empathy from a young age so that they grow up to be adults who can identify racism and challenge it.

Conduct psychological research on how social norms change and how best to implement systems that result in the changing attitudes of people in the dominant group so that systems will also be affected.

Design a curriculum that addresses the legacy of the United States' history of racism and teaches students how to be aware of their own inherent biases.

Engage in contact in favorable conditions with other groups, and work toward shared goals with people from different races.

Seek and foster friendships across racial lines so that you can start seeing people as individuals rather than as just part of a race.

The way children learn about American history can affect their understanding of racism. For example, one study looked at how Black History Month was taught in predominantly White and predominantly Black schools. The researchers found marked differences in how information was presented.

In mostly White schools, students were exposed to displays and discussions that were highly abstract and focused more on individual achievements rather than addressing racism. At mostly Black schools, however, information more directly addressed racism and the effects of racial barriers.

Recap

A Word From Verywell

For too long, racism has been relegated to the past or reduced to individual beliefs and actions. As a result, America's lingering systemic and institutionalized racism has been overlooked and allowed to persist and progress. But cultural-psychological approaches to understanding racism challenge these ideas. Racism is in more ways a cultural phenomenon than an individual psychological occurrence.

What this means is that you do not need to be racist to uphold racist systems. We each have a personal responsibility to challenge racism on an individual level, but we also must look toward the cultural structures that perpetuate individual bias and the injustice that racism causes.

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Learn about the psychology of racism with this complete examination of what it means to be racist from a psychological perspective.