University of Southampton
Faculty of Social and Human Sciences
Social Sciences
Everyday Racism in English Professional Football
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of
BSc (SocSci) Sociology
By
24071641
Date of submission: 25th April 2013
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my supervisor Pathik Pathak for providing me with invaluable guidance throughout my dissertation. I would also like to thank those I interviewed for taking the time to share their knowledge with me. I left each interview feeling nothing but sheer admiration for all the hard work they have done to combat racism in football. I would also like to thank my friends and family for always providing me with support and reassurance.
Table of Contents
Abstract 4
1 Introduction 5
2 Literature Review 9
2.1 Theorising and Conceptualising Racism 9
2.2 The History of Racism in English Football 13
2.3 Types of racism in English Football: Individual and Institutional Racism 15
3 Methodology 20
3.1 The Rationales of my Methodology 20
3.2 Reflection on the Data-Collection Process 23
4 Findings and Analysis 26
4.1 Individual and Institutional Racism in English Professional Football Today 26
4.2 Everyday Racism in English Professional Football 29
4.3 The Reproduction of the System of Racism in English Professional Football 35
5 Conclusions 38
Reference List 42
Appendices
Appendix A ERGO Approval
Appendix B Participant Information Sheet
Appendix C Consent Form
Appendix D Interview Questions
Appendix E Interview Transcripts
Interview 1 'David' 11
Interview 2 'Peter' 38
Interview 3 'Sue' 66
Interview 4 'James' 80
Abstract
This dissertation is a contribution to the sociology of racism in football and it aims to explore how everyday racism, a concept which has not been previously applied to this topic, manifests itself in English professional football. Furthermore, the project aims to discover if the institutions of football contribute to the reproduction of the system of racism; which again, is something that has not yet been explored. Whilst reviewing the relevant literature, it became apparent that although numerous theorists had written about individual and institutional racism in the game, none had explored how the two types of racism intersect. Thus, semi-structured interviews were carried out with members of anti-racism organisations and secondary analysis of a recent documentary on racism in football was conducted in order to explore how institutional and individual racism intersect and therefore, how everyday racism occurs in the game. Firstly, my project found that individual racism has not disappeared from the game despite improvements made in this area, and furthermore, institutional racism is still a major issue. Secondly, the project uncovered three ways in which everyday racism occurs in the game; through the institutions poorly addressing incidents of individual racism, through the institutions and the cultures of football clubs creating an environment that is not conducive to the reporting of racism, and through the ignorance displayed by referees when racism occurs during games. The final finding of the project was that the institutions contribute to the reproduction of the system of racism, and therefore facilitate the endurance of racism in football. The research was important because the application of the theory of everyday racism, as well as the exploration of the reproduction of racism, both represent original contributions to the sociology of racism in football.
1 Introduction
The impetus for my project came from two high-profile incidents of racism in the Premier League wherein Liverpool’s Luis Suarez racially abused Manchester United’s Patrice Evra, and Chelsea’s John Terry racially abused Queens Park Rangers’ Anton Ferdinand (Orr, 2012). These incidents served to demonstrate that racism still exists in the game today, and that it even occurs within the highest echelons of the professional game. Therefore the scene was set for me to conduct my own research into the contemporary landscape of racism in English professional football. Two types of racism exist in professional football and have received much attention from academics who have conducted research on the sociology of racism in football; individual racism and institutional racism. It is clear that these issues occur at all levels of football; from a grassroots and amateur level right through to the highest level of professional football (Football Task Force, 1998). These types of racism are not solely confined to England either as much research has been conducted on individual and institutional racism in football in other European countries too (Kassimeris, 2008), however my dissertation will focus solely on English professional football.
My project aims to explore how individual and institutional racism feature in the game today as well as how these two types of racism intersect, and therefore, how BME players experience everyday racism. The project will also aim to explore whether or not the institutions contribute to the reproduction of the system of racism in English professional football. Thus, my research questions are as follows:
1. How do individual and institutional forms of racism manifest themselves in English professional football today?
2. In what ways does everyday racism manifest itself in English professional football?
3. Do the institutions of football in any way contribute to the reproduction of the system of racism and thus facilitate its continuation?
I have mentioned some key concepts in this introduction which need defining before proceeding any further. Carmichael and Hamilton (1967, p.4) define individual racism as overt racist acts by individuals. In the context of football, individual racism features through overt forms of racism by fans, individual players (Back, Crabbe and Solomos, 2001a, p.157), and coaching staff (Moran, 2000, p.195). To summarise MacPherson’s definition of institutional racism, it occurs when institutions fail to provide an appropriate and professional service to people due to them being from an ethnic minority. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which result in discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantage ethnic minorities (MacPherson, 1999). Everyday racism is a concept which combines both individual and institutional forms of racism, and can be summarised as a process whereby institutions contribute to the problem of racism through their passivity, their acquiescence, their ignorance and their indifference in response to ethnic and racial discrimination and prejudice (van Dijk, 1993, p.6). Reproduction of racism is also explained by van Dijk as occurring when racism continues as a result of collusion, passivity, inaction, or failure to combat prejudice and discrimination by institutions (van Dijk, 1993, p.26). A final term I would like to briefly address is Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) which refers not only to black people, but those from other ethnic minorities too.
The following chapter is a review of the relevant literature that forms the background from which my specific research questions are derived. Firstly, the more general literature on theories and concepts of racism are explored with particular attention paid to the concepts individual racism, institutional racism, everyday racism and reproduction of racism; all of which are central concepts which feature throughout this project. The second sub-chapter reviews the literature in order to present a brief account on the history of racism in football, before the final sub-chapter explores the literature on individual and institutional forms of racism in the game, and therefore identifies the gaps which my research aims to address. The methodology chapter is split into two sections, with the first section providing the rationale for my chosen method, semi-structured interviews, by identifying its strengths and weaknesses. The second section of this chapter reviews the data-collection process and states what methods were employed to collect the data, as well as whom the chosen participants were. Next, the interview process is briefly explained before attention is given to how the data is to be analysed in the ‘Findings and Analysis Chapter’. The chapter ends by detailing the problems that occurred in the data-collection process and how these were mitigated. The ‘Findings and Analysis’ chapter is divided into three sub-chapters and each one addresses a specific research question. The findings are then presented in the relevant sub-chapter based on the research question they answer, and are analysed by referring back to the literature explored in the ‘Literature Review’ chapter. The ‘Conclusion’ chapter summarises the main findings of the project and explains how the research questions were answered. The strengths and limitations of the project are then highlighted, as well as the implications of my project for further research.
2 Literature Review
2.1 Theorising and Conceptualising Racism
Despite there being a rich body of work detailing manifestations of racism as early as the eighteenth century, beginning with the period of the enlightenment and colonialism (Back and Solomos, 1996, p.32), the “usage of the term racism in both political and social scientific discourses was linked to the rise of Nazism in Germany” (Back and Solomos, 1996, p.4). The term was first coined by Ruth Benedict, who defined racism as the “dogma that one ethnic group is condemned by nature to congenital inferiority and another group is destined to congenital superiority” (Benedict, 1942, p.97). This definition does not explain the basis upon which these groups are deemed to be either superior or inferior, thus van den Berghe’s definition is useful as it further develops Benedict’s by defining racism as “any set of beliefs that organic, genetically transmitted differences (whether real or imagined) between human groups are intrinsically associated with the presence or absence of certain socially relevant abilities or characteristics” (van den Berghe, 1967, p.11). According to this definition, real or imagined biological differences provide the basis upon which different groups are deemed either superior or inferior. Although a useful definition in terms of racism being defined along biological and physiological lines, it misses the important aspect of cultural differences being used as the basis for racism and therefore needs expanding; a task which is accomplished by van Dijk’s (1993, p.5) concept, ethnicism, which is “a system of ethnic group dominance based on cultural criteria of categorization, differentiation, and exclusion, such as those of language, religion, customs, or worldwide views”. I will not however be employing the term ethnicism hereinafter; rather I will employ an overall definition of racism where both biological and cultural differences are utilized as a basis for discrimination, prejudice and categorization.
Within the broader concept of racism, two key concepts that will feature throughout this dissertation need to be explored; the first of which is individual racism (also referred to as overt or popular racism), which Carmichael and Hamilton (1967, p.4) first defined as “overt acts by individuals, which cause death, injury or the violent destruction of property”. To expand on this definition, individual racism can also include non-violent forms of overt racist abuse too. This kind of racism is very prevalent in society today as Home Office (2012) statistics show that 47,678 racist incidents took place in England and Wales in the period 2011/2012. Although Carmichael and Hamilton present a useful definition, Essed raises an issue with the term individual racism, stating that it “is a contradiction in itself because racism is by definition the expression or activation of group power” (Essed, 1991, p.37). She is stating that racism is not merely overt acts of discrimination by individuals with a racial element, but rather a process whereby racial discrimination and prejudice are employed to express group dominance. However, I will continue to use the term as it is useful for explaining overt racist abuse from members of one group against those of another.
Institutional racism was first explored as a concept by Carmichael and Hamilton (1967, p.4, italics in original), who stated that it is “less overt, far more subtle, [and] less identifiable in terms of specific individuals committing the acts”. They then state that it “originates in the operation of established and respected forces in the society, and thus receives far less public condemnation than [individual racism]” (Carmichael and Hamilton, 1967, p.4). Though this definition establishes the arena in which institutional racism manifests itself as well as the hidden nature of it, it does not clarify how institutional racism as a process occurs. To this end, Sir William Macpherson provides a clearer definition which details how it can occur:
The collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people (Macpherson, 1999).
Therefore, institutional racism occurs when institutions fail to provide an appropriate and professional service to BMEs. Of note, institutional racism can be ‘unwitting’ and therefore, unintended as well as intended:
Unwitting racism can arise because of lack of understanding, ignorance or mistaken beliefs. It can arise from well intentioned but patronising words or actions. It can arise from unfamiliarity with the behaviour or cultural traditions of people or families from minority ethnic communities. It can arise from racist stereotyping of black people as potential criminals or troublemakers. Often this arises out of uncritical self-understanding born out of an inflexible police ethos of the "traditional" way of doing things (Macpherson, 1999).
The theory of race I will be adhering to stems from van Dijk’s Elite discourse and racism, which identifies racism within the discourses of elite institutions in society. His theoretical framework for his concept of racism supposes that an important dimension of racism is its intergroup nature; that categorization, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination affect other people because they belong to other groups, and negative attributes assigned to a particular group are applied to its members (van Dijk, 1993, p.20). Influenced by Giles and Evans (1986), van Dijk states that essential for racism is the exercising of power and dominance by majority group members over minority group members; that is, majority groups, through their actions, have the ability to control and limit the actions of minority group members (van Dijk, 1993, pp.21-22). van Dijk (1993, pp.22-23) argues that racism presupposes the social construction of ethnic or racial difference, therefore racism is applied to forms of group domination in which both physiological and cultural differences are utilized as the basis of categorization, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Lastly, the form of racism focused upon in this theoretical framework is white racism; wherein white European groups exercise group dominance over non-European groups (van Dijk, 1993, pp.23-24).