I do not remember an experience of discrimination happening to me since I live in Africa, it is less likely to happen especially for racism.
My son had told me about discrimination in European soccer. Both fans and players have been found guilty of racial prejudice against black players. For instance in 2011, a Uruguayan striker shouted the word "Negro" eight times at a black Frenchman. He was duly banned for eight games but the next time they met on a football field, the Uruguayan man intentionally skipped the black man during the customary pre- match handshake. He was banned again but it is obvious that bans will not end racial prejudice in European soccer.
My son had told me about discrimination in European soccer. Both fans and players have been found guilty of racial prejudice against black players. For instance in 2011, a Uruguayan striker shouted the word "Negro" eight times at a black Frenchman. He was duly banned for eight games but the next time they met on a football field, the Uruguayan man intentionally skipped the black man during the customary pre- match handshake. He was banned again but it is obvious that bans will not end racial prejudice in European soccer.
Punishing a player is such a perfect illustration of why punitive consequences are not very effective. No action is being taken to help the player understand why he may have such feelings or to discuss what expectations are for his continued play in the league. Additionally he is not having an opportunity to confront why he responds in this way to a person of color and how this may be the result of misconceptions about a particular group of people. With the continued lack of awareness and lack of understanding he has about his action, there is no opportunity for anything to change in the future, and it is likely the problem will continue to persist. I see this as an interesting parallel to punishing children by putting them in time out for negative actions or behaviors. It is vital to take time to deconstruct what occurred, build understanding about why it occurred, help children comprehend what the expectation is and why there previous reaction was not ok, and then help children consider alternative actions or ways of handling similar situations in the future. It can't just be about consequences or punishments, but must also be about building understanding and challenging misconceptions.
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