What unites the world may also be what divides them. Sports is such an item. There is nothing like rousing cheers to ignite fires of patriotism when victory comes the way. The adrenalin sweeps all away in a rush of pleasure and thrill. And there is nothing as starkly true and sobering as a defeat and the fallout from that.
It was most noted in the recent soccer victories of Britain in the European Cup and where England reached the finals to play against Italy. They were expecting tournament glory after 50 years plus. It was a momentous event for all and everyone was all raring to go. From binge drinking to flag waving to abusing the Italians, all were on full throttle. The match began in full blast and England scored almost immediately and the crowd reaction was as expected. The match went on with England claiming a bigger share of the domination but just before the end, Italy scored.
The match went for a tie breaker and in that, England missed 1 more kick than Italy who became the champion. England lost, crushing the dream of millions. There is something fundamentally unfair about football tie-breakers because the match performance doesn’t matter. What do are just 10 kicks at the goal and it’s all down to the moment. It’s sad the cup had to be decided this way.
What followed was an eruption of grief, regret, recriminations and racism. And it’s the last part that is interesting. In happy days, the players were Brit but as bad days fell, they became N***s. It showed the fundamental unfairness of a society. It can’t even see everyone as players in its national soccer team so the issue of inclusion in the wider world is understandable.
Lot of people see racism as ‘evil” and yet think of European civilization as the highest point in the world. European ideas, ideology, thought and sports all dominate the Third world. Our academia is entirely constructed around Western thought. Academics not only go to the West for advanced degrees but no one is considered educated unless it’s done so in the West. Our numbing caricature of intellectuality is to see two Bangladeshis pondits debating the work of a Western scholar who is not even read in the West anymore. It becomes a display of laughter and hopefully forgetting but most importantly a symbol of who we are.
The English players who took the team to the final were mostly Black and the 3 players who missed the penalty were Blacks. Obviously, all the love and affection disappeared as soon as the match was lost and the English players suddenly became niggers. As a man succinctly put it in his social media post, “The niggers ruined it for us.”
The fact of the matter is simple. In good days all are welcome but not all days and as soon as “evil days come “the race identity is thrust forward. It’s not Europe’s fault. Its prosperity has been built on destruction of non-white civilization so it’s hard wired. More deeply, does it really want it to go ? What will be the fate of European prosperity under pressure as the economic challenge from the East increases ? And how will European racism fare in that environment?
