Early talk about rumours of a demand for black players joining a union representing black players. Sounds very divisive and what about mixed race players. Would they be under pressure to join the black union...perhaps a paint colour chart will be needed to see what union you join. Totally divisive and I hope it never happens.
I think it would be a backward step. Can you imagine any incidents in the future and witnesses being called to give statements against members of their own Union. Having a black members only union would be as damaging as having a white only members union. It will take us back years. As you say Fran, is it based on colour, nationality, parentage? My wife is Jamaican, but you would never ever guess if you met her. If she were a footballer and had to choose, she would choose a more Jamaican type union; would they refuse her membership? My son therefore is part Jamaican; would he be turned away from this new union for not looking black even though his mother is a proud Jamaican?
And you could have the horrible position of someone who is three quarters white and proud of his English/Scottish/Swedish etc background getting called all sorts of names because he didn't consider himself black. Do you think Ryan Giggs considers himself black? How does that help achieve a day when colour is unimportant? Everyone working together is what we need.
That's stupid. There have always been civil rights groups for specific minorities, they are not discriminatory. It's an issue for them to decide on. If they don't feel they're being represented fairly by the PFA or the kick it out campaign then they are well within their rights to set up a specific union to better serve their needs, and I don't see how that would upset others. To reply to the point about a paint colour chart, I'm sure it would be open to all non-white players. It wouldn't make sense to exclude people.
But the world isn't divided into white and non-white people. Some will be a mixture and why should they choose which of their ancestors to align themselves with. Tiger Woods was under pressure to join black groups, but said that he was a mixture of 6 races (not sure of number) and he was proud of all of them. Nothing against action groups, but I am against dividing the PFA into 2 groups. The PFA represents footballers regardless of colour. We should be moving forward to where race isn't an issue.
Respectfully, you either identify yourself as white or you don't, so in that sense, the world is in fact divided between white and non-white people. Mixed-race players, if they feel the need (Tiger Woods obviously didn't), will join the 'black' union, as it has been described here. Do you not think that the only way to advance to a situation where race is no longer an issue is by advocating for minority groups? Did women get the vote by not organising amongst themselves?
Thanks for describing my viewpoint as stupid Anything that differentiates between people soley upon the colour of their skin is racist, it really is as simple as that. Having a separate black players union indicates that they are different from other players, and that is wrong. Dont mis-understand me, there is racism that needs to be stopped, but this is not the right way. To my mind if anything it will have the opposite effect.
It's nothing personal, honestly, but describing an advocacy group for an ethnic minority as 'racist' is extremely unconventional. Having a separate black players' union indicates that they have different needs from their union, nothing more, nothing less. And that's up to them to decide. If anything is racist it's telling them they can't do it.
if all the "whites" got together and set up a white only union would that be accepted by the "non whites" I think not it would cause outrage and no doubt strike action riots and god know's what else. This is a very bad move and one that shouldn't ever happen in the interest of love and harmony.
I don't like the idea. I think it would only serve to highlight issues and perhaps cause a split between black and white players which would certainly do nothing to help. I have to ask though - is it really that big a deal in England? Aside from a few isolated cases, I wouldn't say racism is particularly prevalent in our leagues. Perhaps I'm mistaken but I assumed black players were treated pretty much the same as white players here.
Black only groups and groups of any racial/gender/religious are divisive nowadays , they had a role to play when society at large was in the main racist , to go back to that would acknowledge issues that thankfully on the whole have past .
Really worried now. Second time I've agreed with you Some will say that there is still work to do, which is true, but this problem will never be totally eradicated just as murder and other crimes will always exist. Important not to underestimate the progress made.
Good counter PTF. I hadn't considered it that way. I'll digest that and give it some further thought.
Having a seperate players union should be unecessary, the existing union surely represents ALL players regardless of race, if the non white players feel that the union is in some way letting them down then surely it's easier to address those concerns from within. What might be a more sensible suggestion would be to remain part of the existing players union, but launch a new and seperate anti racism campaign organised and backed by those who feel the current efforts are failing.
That's a pretty frivolous comparison. No-one is suggesting we set up a union that caters to a majority group. The whites have no reason to organise in this way, since they cannot seriously be said to suffer from racial discrimination. Isn't that for them to decide? How can anyone who isn't part of that group say they don't feel discriminated against?
They could do - I was just offering an outside opinion that it doesn't seem a worthwhile risk to create a potentially divisive union such as this. Surely a better target would be to attempt to counteract international racism, like we saw in the U21 Serbia game? A union for minority footballers across Europe/the world?
