Portsmouth youth players allegedly racially abuse England players in group chat

James Peril

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Surely these kids must know what they are saying is racist! How can they not know this are they that dumb to not realise that there will be serious consequences for them.
Footballers are genuinely the dumbest folks around though, is this shocking? They skip an education and live with a locker room-mentality from they’re 12 to 35. It’s like prison camp without the library, these guys are really not the average of society.
 

Irrational.

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Disgusting. Feck them off.

I’m sure their cretinous parents who also are also partly responsible will release a statement telling us what angels they are and how they have black mates.

Well done, say goodbye to your football career (or at least a major setback).
 

NotThatSoph

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I'm going to generalise but I think these are two separate and unconnected demographics. The one you mention, the chan culture, is predominantly more middle class, introverted, social awkward types, fairly intelligent/nerdy in a way but lacking in social development and filled with resentment. I doubt many in that culture would be able to kick a football let alone have aspirations of being a professional, and I doubt any or many academy footballers would fall into this demographic, and would actually be amazed if they even knew what chans were let alone be part of that culture. I think they'd more likely be in the demographic of working class, more extrovert, socially more successful amongst their peers but brash, not politically minded at all.

You may have already made the distinction it wasn't really clear from the few posts of the convo that I read.
Yes, I was trying to describe the end of the spectrum, not claiming that these particular kids are described by it (though I'd hesitate to draw any hard borders here). Point being that this urge to compare specific instances of young people being racist to a general young trait of being edgy and pushing borders is a bit off to me. Sometimes it's true, and sometimes they just hate black people.
 

Green Arrow

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Footballers are genuinely the dumbest folks around though, is this shocking? They skip an education and live with a locker room-mentality from they’re 12 to 35. It’s like prison camp without the library, these guys are really not the average of society.
In this day and age nothing shocks me now but seeing all this racist behavior still knocks me back. All the disgusting vile tweets that have been posted at Rashford, Sancho and Saka is beyond comprehension. Why would you post such things and think you can get away with them.
 

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This is quite heartbreaking. I want to believe things are getting better, the next generation won't be as awful, but when you see things like this you realise we are so far away from ever eradicating this from society. I just don't get how kids can still be so broken on this issue.
 

C'mon FC

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Footballers are genuinely the dumbest folks around though, is this shocking? They skip an education and live with a locker room-mentality from they’re 12 to 35. It’s like prison camp without the library, these guys are really not the average of society.
That's such a dump post! There are lots of smart guys playing the game and after their career they become leading employees.
Actually this type of stupid generalization is the reason why the players have to take the knee before the games (which I'm not happy about because politics shouldn't be in sports, but that's another topic).

I seriously hope that you actually don't really mean how you have been writing your post.
 

DixieDean

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Kids say and do some evil things. I won't write them off after this but they need to realise why what they're saying is bad and learn from this.
 

OL29

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That's such a dump post! There are lots of smart guys playing the game and after their career they become leading employees.
Actually this type of stupid generalization is the reason why the players have to take the knee before the games (which I'm not happy about because politics shouldn't be in sports, but that's another topic).

I seriously hope that you actually don't really mean how you have been writing your post.
Fighting to stop racial abuse isn’t political.
 

Dirty Schwein

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I don't understand what they're actually talking about. Do young people not talk in sentences any more?

I'm reading it as though they're speculating on what the social media reaction will be to it, rather than their own opinions.

But like I said, i can't understand and I'm probably wrong.
I thought this too. I bet that will be their defense.
 

Red Comet

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It's disgusting but how young are these kids? Hope they pay their price for this stupidity but society still allows room for remorse and change. I know I said some pretty dumb shit as a kid myself.
We all say dumb shit as kids, but surely not this level.
 
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Chesterlestreet

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Hm. A group chat between team mates, one of whom is a black kid - and several of whom are apparently flaming, shameless racists.

If the above is correct, it's a pretty bizarre exchange (based on the screenshots posted).
 

Tom Cato

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This is quite heartbreaking. I want to believe things are getting better, the next generation won't be as awful, but when you see things like this you realise we are so far away from ever eradicating this from society. I just don't get how kids can still be so broken on this issue.

It's generally about mob mentality and lashing out. The threshold for using profanity of all kinds get really low with social media, especially for young people. Adults above the age of 25 process information through the prefrontal cortex , the part of our brain that processes rationale. It makes us able to respond to stimulation with calm and a feeling of long term consequence. For example: This is why I don't tell a especially difficult customer what I really think.

Teenagers primarily process emotion through the amygdala, the part of our brain that processes emotion. Teenagers don't yet have a fully developed interaction between the emotional and decision making part of the brain, which is why they are so prone to irrationally lashing out.

I don't think the kids in question are broken, but they've probably not received good nurture in their surrounding on the societal issues, which is why the threshold for actually using langauge like that seems so low. Mimmicking behavior is one of several factors that define the person we grow up to become, which is why having a good rolemodel is so important. It doesnt take more than to have one good friend you perceive as cool to use profanity for you to mimmick it in a irrational setting, such as this group chat. Its thoughtless behavior that a adult man would inherently know is wrong and stop himself. Well, the majority anyway.

The good thing though, is that the same way me, and most other adults can look back at our teenage years and say I can't believe I used to be like that - Because we grew up. Biologically and emotionally. With the right nurture, most anyone can become good people.

There should of course be consequences for what they did, it is racism and it is as deplorable as it can get, but they're also teenagers who will change into more mature human beings with the ability to reflect on their choices, words and interacitons.

Personally I don't believe in punishment in the form of bans and exclusion when it comes to young men and women, because that punishment could be detrimental and put them on a worse path.

Have them apologize to their teammates during a group session, enroll them in a local community volounteer program for 6 months to a year and ban them from a number of games, while allowing them to train and keep the social windfall. Forgiveness is a crucial component in a society that allows people to make mistakes and become better human beings, friends and neighbours. Reach a hand and let them take it.
 
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e.cantona

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It's generally about mob mentality and lashing out. The threshold for using profanity of all kids get really low with social media, especially for young people. Adults above the age of 25 process information through the prefrontal cortex , the part of our brain that processes rationale. It makes us able to respond to stimulation with calm and a feeling of long term consequence. For example: This is why I don't tell a especially difficult customer what I really think.

Teenagers primarily process emotion through the amygdala, the part of our brain that processes emotion. Teenagers don't yet have a fully developed interaction between the emotional and decision making part of the brain, which is why they are so prone to irrationally lashing out.

I don't think the kids in question are broken, but they've probably not received good nurture in their surrounding on the societal issues, which is why the threshold for actually using langauge like that seems so low.

The good thing though, is that the same way me, and most other adults can look back at our teenage years and say I can't believe I used to be like that - Because we grew up. Biologically and emotionally. With the right nurture, most anyone can become good people.

There should of course be consequences for what they did, it is racism and it is as deplorable as it can get, but they're also teenagers who will change into more mature human beings with the ability to reflect on their choices, words and interacitons.

Personally I don't believe in punishment in the form of bans and exclusion when it comes to young men and women, because that punishment could be detrimental and put them on a worse path.

Have them apologize to their teammates during a group session, enroll them in a local community volounteer program for 6 months to a year and ban them from a number of games, while allowing them to train and keep the social windfall. Forgiveness is a crucial component in a society that allows people to make mistakes and become better human beings, friends and neighbours. Reach a hand and let them take it.
Great points. What will the group think of me. I must be accepted. I must be cool, edgy, whatever. Scare them and make them suffer a bit. They're kids and will hopefully grow up eventually.
 

Solius

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Hm. A group chat between team mates, one of whom is a black kid - and several of whom are apparently flaming, shameless racists.

If the above is correct, it's a pretty bizarre exchange (based on the screenshots posted).
You don't know if any black players are in the group. Based on the names you can see at the bottom there aren't.

Portsmouth have taken their Academy page off their website.
 

IncyWincySpider

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It's a difficult one because obviously if they lose their careers over this there's a good chance they will spend the rest of their lives blaming black people and 'woke culture' for how everything turned out, become more bitter and racist and probably having racist kids etc. It would be nice to think that the right person can sit down with them, explain exactly what is wrong with their views, and that this could be an enlightening experience for them. Realistically, I don't think that will happen.

The most practical thing for Portsmouth to do would be to sack them and draw a line under it, but the club looks pretty bad either way here. There is obviously a problem with the culture at the club and I would be amazed if this was a one-off incident, it's all too brazen and casual to believe that. Making these individuals say sorry and attend a few workshops doesn't seem sufficient to me.
 

Chesterlestreet

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You don't know if any black players are in the group. Based on the names you can see at the bottom there aren't.
It was mentioned earlier in the thread that the person who is "me" in one screenshot and "Izzy" in another - is one of the two black team members.

If this is incorrect, then ignore what I said above.
 

Maagge

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People always get extremely defensive when told they're racist/did something racist. For most of us it shouldn't actually be surprising if we end up doing/saying something racist. After all a lot of us were raised in racist societies. So apologise and get rid of any racist ideas in your thinking when you find them. There's a lot of unlearning to do and it isn't easy, but being very defensive about it is only unhelpful.
 

Peter van der Gea

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I'm sure they will be over 10 years old, the age of criminal responsibility so will they be prosecuted for hate speech?
 

Carolina Red

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Hm. A group chat between team mates, one of whom is a black kid - and several of whom are apparently flaming, shameless racists.

If the above is correct, it's a pretty bizarre exchange (based on the screenshots posted).
As stated earlier, a team I coached had the exact same type of incident happen. The racists thought they’d get away with it because the vast majority of folks on the team / in the school were white.

You don't know if any black players are in the group. Based on the names you can see at the bottom there aren't.

Portsmouth have taken their Academy page off their website.
From the names that were in there, it appeared that one of the matched up with the name of one of the black academy players, at least it did when I looked before they took the page down.
 

Trequarista10

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You don't know if any black players are in the group. Based on the names you can see at the bottom there aren't.

Portsmouth have taken their Academy page off their website.
Someone messaged a player called Dan, and Dan replied posting screenshots from his phone showing that it was another player called Dan who had said the racist stuff. Anyway, those screenshots showed that the person who took the original screenshots (and leaked them) was a player called Izzy, who people traced as being a black guy on the team.

Kudos to Izzy for outing his team mates. Unfortunately it could cause him a lot of shit, as in backlash from his teammates, so I hope the club support him.
 

OL29

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Perhaps it would be pertinent of Sterling to speak up more about his employers attitude towards human rights too, if that's the case.
He’s not obligated to be a spokesperson for every social issue out there.
 

matt23

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Respectfully, what the hell does that have to do with anything I said?
Not much to be fair, I shouldn't have replied directly to you. Apologies.

Your post mentioned human rights, and I just started thinking out loud about the wider implications of appearing to fight for human rights, whilst apparently having very little issue with being paid millions of pounds by a murderous dictatorship.
 

Halftrack

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A post of an Instagram post .... read down to see what she said. She apologised (though who knows if honest mistake or apologising as been called out?) but either way, people must be stupid nowadays to not think any such social media post won't get noticed.

Looks to be an honest mistake. There were two pictures in the post. The first one was of her, and the "smile like a monkey with a new banana" was meant as a comment on that. The rest of the text is obviously meant for the picture of AWB.

She acknowledged that it looked really bad and has apologised profusely, as well as deleting the post. There's not much more she can do, really, other than hope that people accept her explanation and apology.

e: I see a couple have latched on, and by the looks of it nothing short of her admitting to being racist will satisfy them.
 
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diarm

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Feel free to read the posts before...
Oh I read them. I just thought they were incredibly dumb and unnecessary.

You're suggesting sportspeople should grin and bear racial abuse because politics "shouldn't be involved in sport".

Anything can be labelled political if someone wants to be a dickhead about it enough. The whole idea of no politics in sport is to protect sport and competition from government interference and corruption. Not to protect racists and bigots.

It's sad that so many people are still frantically grasping for anything and everything they can find to excuse racism. What would you gain personally from footballers stopping taking the knee? What is it about those players choosing to take a stand that hurts your enjoyment of the game?
 

Inigo Montoya

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You'd imagine 100% these days.


The dumb thing is these kids are probably not even 'genuinely' racist, they just think it's cool to use racist language and speak this way with their friends.

No doubt this will ruin their potential careers, and stick with them for life. I hope it was worth it :houllier:
Genuinely racist? But use the words ‘lynching and niggers’ in a chat. I think in this climate they’re very well aware of what they’ve posted.
No doubt they’ll be coaching and playing for the local pub side in due course and nothing will have changed
 

Inigo Montoya

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Yes it is! But feel free to tell me what do you think it is.
I’d say it’s more about common decency and humanity to treat people on their character and not on the colour of their skin.
The politics around it arose out of racist policy. For sure racism and it’s tackling of it needed political involvement but in essence it should be about not judging or pre judging people based on skin colour