BBC News article
Still a ways to go in the battle against racism in football, and society more broadly. The line that stood out in the article was Viv describing how the abuse got worse the further north he played, which he puts down to fewer black people living there. I think this is still true, when you see the concerns about immigration surveys showing high levels in areas like mine with very low levels of immigrants. Not that all those with concerns are necessarily racist, but the concerns are often driven by fear of the other or the unknown, which are inherent to us as human beings (we are wired like this for good survival reasons). No easy way to avoid these feelings, but as a community we can help by speaking about our positive experiences around interacting with others. For me, I loved how gracious Viv himself was towards me when I greeted him one drunken night in Dublin with "Viv! Up the Boro!" And then went straight past him to grasp Norman Whitesides hand and tell him what a boyhood idol of mine he had been
Still a ways to go in the battle against racism in football, and society more broadly. The line that stood out in the article was Viv describing how the abuse got worse the further north he played, which he puts down to fewer black people living there. I think this is still true, when you see the concerns about immigration surveys showing high levels in areas like mine with very low levels of immigrants. Not that all those with concerns are necessarily racist, but the concerns are often driven by fear of the other or the unknown, which are inherent to us as human beings (we are wired like this for good survival reasons). No easy way to avoid these feelings, but as a community we can help by speaking about our positive experiences around interacting with others. For me, I loved how gracious Viv himself was towards me when I greeted him one drunken night in Dublin with "Viv! Up the Boro!" And then went straight past him to grasp Norman Whitesides hand and tell him what a boyhood idol of mine he had been