As I've been saying for decades, as long as racism exists in society, it will exist in all facets of society. Until we eradicate it from society, football will be like any other industry.
John BarnesRead
When you talk about kicking racism out of football, people automatically assume you are talking about on the terraces and on the football field. But all racists have to do is keep their mouth shut for 90 minutes and they're fine.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the superficial nature of addressing racism in football by pointing out that silence is not true change.
John Barnes emphasizes that merely silencing racist sentiments during a football match does not eliminate the underlying issues of racism in the sport or society. Real change requires more than just quiet compliance; it necessitates active engagement and a commitment to confronting racism both on and off the field.
Themes
RacismFootballChangeSilentSociety
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used during a discussion on the culture of sports and racism.
More from John Barnes
All quotes →What I say about myself, black footballers or black pop stars is that we have been 'elevated out of blackness.' Because when people see us, they don't see us as being black. These are the issues that we should address.
John BarnesRead
There wasn't a game in the Eighties when you didn't get racial abuse as a black player.
John BarnesRead
How many black people are there in the higher echelons of any industry? We can talk about journalism, we can talk about politics. So why should football be any different?
John BarnesRead
There are so many intelligent former black players, guys like Luther Blissett and Cyrille Regis, who never got a chance to become a top manager or a top coach because of the perception that surrounds people who look like them. They are black - which, for many, means they are good athletes but incapable of being anything above and beyond that.
John BarnesRead
The only fight worth fighting is to give all children equal opportunities regardless of race or gender, to judge individuals on their qualities and not their backgrounds. The victory won't come when nobody feels able to voice racist abuse, but when nobody thinks of doing so in the first place.
John BarnesRead
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