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<h2 property="dc:title"><a
href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/172009/must-be-seen-be-believed-kevin-prince-boateng-kicks-soccers-racism-teeth"
title="Must Be Seen to Be Believed: Kevin-Prince Boateng Kicks Soccer’s Racism in the Teeth">Must
Be Seen to Be Believed: Kevin-Prince Boateng Kicks Soccer’s Racism in
the Teeth</a></h2>
<div class="byline"><a
href="http://www.thenation.com/authors/dave-zirin">Dave Zirin</a> <span
class="timestamp"><abbr class="published"
title="2013-01-03T11:59:43-18000">on January 3, 2013 - 11:59 AM ET<br>
<small>http://www.thenation.com/blog/172009/must-be-seen-be-believed-kevin-prince-boateng-kicks-soccers-racism-teeth#</small><br>
</abbr></span></div>
<div class="content">
<p>Imagine for a moment banana peels raining down on the head of Miami
Heat basketball star LeBron James when he takes the court. Picture
Vikings running back Adrian Peterson having to hear fans sing songs
calling for his death because of the color of his skin. It’s difficult
to visualize in US sports* but such scenes have become a normal feature
of European soccer. Yet perhaps, <a
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXyqFZ_fghI&sns=em"
target="_blank">in one moment of fury</a>, the page may finally be
turning on this ugly state of affairs. In a bracing display of courage,
star midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng, of the legendary Italian club,
A.C. Milan, displayed all the frustration that’s been building among
professional soccer players of color in Europe over the last two
decades as they’ve endured and all manner of toxic, racist garbage when
they take the pitch.</p>
<p>In the middle of a “friendly match” against the club Pro Patria, a
mini-mob in the bleachers repeatedly tossed bigoted bombs at the
non-white players on AC Milan’s roster, and Boateng decided he’d had
enough. He picked up the ball right in the middle of play and punted it
directly into their section of the stands. Boateng then began to walk
off the field in protest. Here is where, in a matter of seconds, the
turn of events shifted from shock to wonder. As Boateng stormed to the
nearest exit, the Pro Patria fans, instead of jeering, cheered him for
his actions. Then the referees called off the rest of the game and his
opponents on Pro Patria walked off with Boateng, shoulder to shoulder,
in solidarity. The announcers could only utter a word in Italian easy
to translate: “Incredible.”</p>
<p>There were those who commented immediately on Twitter that the moves
by Boateng, the referees, and the Pro Patria players were easy because
this wasn’t an official league game. But Massimino Allegri, the coach
of AC Milan, said afterward that his team would walk out again if one
of their players were racially abused, regardless of either the
competition or the situation. The powerful Allegri also put out a call
for other teams to stage walkouts if their players were similarly
abused. Particularly significant about this is that the European
soccer-governing body, UEFA, has <a
href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/michel-platini-mario-balotelli-walk-off-over-racism-and-youll-be-booked-at-euro-2012-7821102.html"
target="_blank">explicitly banned players</a> and coaches taking the
fight against racism into their own hands. As UEFA chief Michel Platini
has said, players will be fined or suspended for expressing anti-racist
resistance on the field. Instead. they should just meekly tell the
referee and go about the game. Boateng, Allegri and others are now
saying that this isn’t close to good enough.</p>
<p>As Pete Koury, host and executive Producer for SiriusXM FC said to
me, “FIFA and UEFA have not done nearly enough to address the troubling
issue of racism in world football. They’ve done a series public
relations campaigns, T-shirts, and speeches, but their actions have
been toothless. The only way to change things is through more dramatic
action than we’ve seen so far. What Kevin-Prince Boateng and the
players of both AC Milan & Pro Patria did today was one of the most
drastic things we’ve seen to end racism in soccer and I applaud them
for it. Considering this game took place in Italy—a nation of
historically cruel and abusive fans—it makes me finally feel like there
is finally progress being made.”</p>
<p>Koury’s point about Italy is particularly important. As sickening as
the normalization of racist chants has become in European football,
it’s especially toxic in the Italian league. The lightening rod for all
the bigoted bile in the swamps of Italian fandom has been
African-Italian star Mario Balotelli. Born in Sicily to Ghanaian
parents, the electric Balotelli has had to endure racist chants, songs
calling for his death and, from the time he was a teenage sensation for
Inter Milan, people throwing bananas at him in bars. In 2012, he <a
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/30/euro-2012-mario-balotelli-italy"
target="_blank">said</a>, “I will not accept racism at all. It’s
unacceptable. If someone throws a banana at me in the street, I will go
to jail, because I will kill them.”</p>
<p>It was a powerful statement that resonated strongly with the
younger, more diverse, “Balotelli generation” in Italy. But Boateng’s
actions could actually be a far more profound game-changer felt across
the world. They show that there are masses of Italian fans also
sickened by the racist garbage that floats down from the stands. They
show that white teammates as well as opponents will proudly stand with
players of color. Lastly, they show in no uncertain terms that the days
of enduring racist abuse, as if players in the twenty-first century are
obligated to replicate the Job-like persona of Jackie Robinson in 1947,
are done. No longer should players be expected to accept abuse as a
normal part of play. No tolerance for racism can’t only mean statements
from team officials after the fact. They demand direct action.</p>
<p>___<br>
*I am in no way inferring that sports in the United States is either
absent of bigotry or a Shangri-La for African-American athletes. But
the consistent organizing of racist taunts in world soccer truly does
set it apart.</p>
<p><em>Does Boateng’s brave move mark the start of a better year in
sports? Read Dave Zirin’s post on why <a
href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/171888/2012-year-our-sports-broke">2012</a>
was so bad</em>.</p>
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