Racism in football - The Guardian

[Lizz]

Interesting read here about some factors on why 70% of African-American children can't swim: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/10/us/cnnheroes-butts-josh-project/index.html

[drisaac]

Agreed Dave, although I did raise an eyebrow when aftab related it to football. I see little or no evidence that black people are generally better footballers. Seems to me the best in the world are and have been a healthy mix.

My intention was not to diverte the discussion in this direction. I was simply trying to make a point that we should not expect fans on terraces to be equal to the percentage of black players in the PL. Compared to general population percentages the number of professional footballers is much high and there is probably a reason for that.  It is unfortunate that drisaac has decided to label that as "racist".
I expect the crowd mix at VP to represent the general mix of society regardless of colour of our players.

The misfortune was all yours, Aftab.

[JJ-AV]

Are you joking? Of course it is.

Of course it is.  And if I say about a football team "Black players are better athletes and therefore dominate selection" then that's racist too, right?

Nobody said anything like that.

[Stu]

Are you joking? Of course it is.

Of course it is.  And if I say about a football team "Black players are better athletes and therefore dominate selection" then that's racist too, right?

Nobody said anything like that.

Aftab said exactly that at the top of the second page.

[Sexual Ealing]

Agreed Dave, although I did raise an eyebrow when aftab related it to football. I see little or no evidence that black people are generally better footballers. Seems to me the best in the world are and have been a healthy mix.

It is often though that Black people bones are more dense making them not so good at swimming, i'm on the understanding that if it is the case the bone is more dense it isn't enough to make a difference, I don't know enough about the science of it.

You certainly don't.

[AlwaysAVFC]

Agreed Dave, although I did raise an eyebrow when aftab related it to football. I see little or no evidence that black people are generally better footballers. Seems to me the best in the world are and have been a healthy mix.

It is often though that Black people bones are more dense making them not so good at swimming, i'm on the understanding that if it is the case the bone is more dense it isn't enough to make a difference, I don't know enough about the science of it.

You certainly don't.

Please enlighten me then!

Rather than dismiss what i've said, what are you trying to say?
Its true that Black people's bones are more dense?
Black people can't swim?

Maybe I wasn't clear but I was dispelling the myth rather than agreeing with it, so not sure what you're criticism is based on. Of what I wrote this wasn't what I was expecting to be picked up on.

[KevinGage]

Colin Jackson and Michael Johnson are clearly racist then.

Who knew?

Strange.  Are they immune from being racists because they are black?

I would find it a bit weird if they were, especially concerning comments and conclusions they made about the aptitude of members of their own race ( based on scientific facts) for sport. 

But you seem determined to pepper this thread with increasingly desperate attempts to justify your half baked theory, so kudos to you. 

[drisaac]

Colin Jackson and Michael Johnson are clearly racist then.

Who knew?

Strange.  Are they immune from being racists because they are black?

I would find it a bit weird if they were, especially concerning comments and conclusions they made about the aptitude of members of their own race ( based on scientific facts) for sport. 

But you seem determined to pepper this thread with increasingly desperate attempts to justify your half baked theory, so kudos to you.

The only theory I have put forward in this thread is that Aftab said something racist, that "black players are better athletes" .  Do you agree with Aftab?

[olaftab]

Are you joking? Of course it is.

Of course it is.  And if I say about a football team "Black players are better athletes and therefore dominate selection" then that's racist too, right?

Nobody said anything like that.

Aftab said exactly that at the top of the second page.

Yes I did and it was a poor way of articulating the fact that black players succeed in football in a higher percentage than the percentage of black population in the country.

And now I will stop digging.....

[KevinGage]

Colin Jackson and Michael Johnson are clearly racist then.

Who knew?

Strange.  Are they immune from being racists because they are black?

I would find it a bit weird if they were, especially concerning comments and conclusions they made about the aptitude of members of their own race ( based on scientific facts) for sport. 

But you seem determined to pepper this thread with increasingly desperate attempts to justify your half baked theory, so kudos to you.

The only theory I have put forward in this thread is that Aftab said something racist, that "black players are better athletes" .  Do you agree with Aftab?

Personally I think we should all just get along. 

aftab has never before struck me as an AC Williams type, or that knob jockey Nazi who crashed and burned in offtopic a while ago.  But I will forensically strip everything he posts from now on, and if he says anything that can be taken the wrong way, he'll be up against the wall and shot like that pair.   Deal?

[Chipsticks]

Nobody here is speaking with any malicous intent, drisaac, so please stop being so sensationalist.

[drisaac]

Colin Jackson and Michael Johnson are clearly racist then.

Who knew?

Strange.  Are they immune from being racists because they are black?

I would find it a bit weird if they were, especially concerning comments and conclusions they made about the aptitude of members of their own race ( based on scientific facts) for sport. 

But you seem determined to pepper this thread with increasingly desperate attempts to justify your half baked theory, so kudos to you.

The only theory I have put forward in this thread is that Aftab said something racist, that "black players are better athletes" .  Do you agree with Aftab?

Personally I think we should all just get along. 

aftab has never before struck me as an AC Williams type, or that knob jockey Nazi who crashed and burned in offtopic a while ago.  But I will forensically strip everything he posts from now on, and if he says anything that can be taken the wrong way, he'll be up against the wall and shot like that pair.   Deal?

Chipsticks - lets leave it there like the man said.  ok?

Kevin & Aftab - Deal.  I don't want to be a party to the kind of atrocities that go on in offtopic <shudders/>

[Legion]

aftab is definitely not an acwilliams.

[JJ-AV]

Are you joking? Of course it is.

Of course it is.  And if I say about a football team "Black players are better athletes and therefore dominate selection" then that's racist too, right?

Nobody said anything like that.

Aftab said exactly that at the top of the second page.

Ah, apologies. I'm not with it today.

[Stu]

Yes I did and it was a poor way of articulating the fact that black players succeed in football in a higher percentage than the percentage of black population in the country.

And now I will stop digging.....

Looking at it, my post seemed to suggest I thought you were making a more sinister point. I didn't though. Anyway, not getting drawn into this thread, I'm off!