WHAT'S PAINTING MARS?

A note on Liverpool vs. Man United

DAILY MAIL: Sideshow: Manchester United's Patrice Evra had to put up with jeers from the crowd

 Liverpool obviously won the volume contest. There were far more people singing: “There’s only one lying bastard,” than were rejoining with: “There’s only one racist bastard.”[1]

For those of you not really in the loop when it comes to football (and god knows I’m one of you) there was an incident this season involving the Uruguayan Liverpool forward Luis Suárez and French Manchester United left back Patrice Evra. Evra asserted to the referee at the time and French news network Canal+ that Suárez had racially harassed him multiple times, including use of a Spanish variation of the n-word, throughout a Man U v. Liverpool match on 15th October 2011 [2]. 

This recently culminated in Suárez’ eight match ban, as he was charged by the Football Association of racism and “abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour contrary to FA rules”, including ”a reference to the ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race of Patrice Evra”.[3]

Yesterday (28th Jan 2012) Suárez sat in the crowd for Liverpool’s FA Cup fourth-round match against Manchester United. Evra was playing, and was repeatedly booed and harassed from afar by the Liverpool crowd for - get this - getting ‘their’ player suspended for eight matches.

To those claiming that the fans weren’t racist because they didn’t boo each and every non-white player on the pitch:

The Liverpool fans who booed Evra are racist. Instead of calls for harsher punishment for Suárez, and absolute condemnation of his actions, they blamed the man guilty of nothing but being on the receiving end of racism.

In directing their hatred at an innocent man those Liverpool fans showed that they have no qualms supporting a racist when it suits them and their football club. If that doesn’t make them racist - and let’s remember that racism is not as clear-cut as “I hate all non-white people” - I don’t know what else does.

  1. bearingmypoordiction said: well said.
  2. paintingmars posted this