Racism in sports has reached its highest height in recent years, and many professional players are experiencing a massive amount of hate due to their race and appearance.
Many soccer players lately have been experiencing their fans being racist toward them. Real Madrid European Soccer player Vinícius José Paixão de Oliveira Júnior has faced people making racist chants towards him and the other people of color on the team. In the middle of a soccer game, Vinicius came to the sidelines to prevent people from saying this but they still do.
Many people end up throwing trash at the player. Even off-the-field interviewers don’t talk about how the game went. Rather than what they feel about the racist comments. One interviewer asked him a question about the comments.
“I have never thought about leaving Spain, because that would be giving the racists what they want,” Vinicius Jr. said. “I’m not going to leave the best club in the world… I’m going to remain firm and strong because the president and the club support me”.
After the interview, Vinicius Jr. ended up breaking into tears because of how much racism and pressure was put on him.
Vinicius is not the only player with this issue; not even close. Nedum Onuoha, Paul Canovillie, and Kalidou Koulibaly, just to name a few, have all spoken out about their similar experiences with racism in their sport.
Tennis players have also experienced a lot of racism throughout the years. Serena and Venus Williams were both targets of racial abuse and were booed when on court playing. Many of the people in the stands did not want the players to play because the sisters were black. The Williams sisters decided that this needs to stop in sports. They both advocated for gender and racial equality.
Paola Egonu is an Italian volleyball player born to Nigerian parents. She plays for the Italian National League for volleyball. She explained the story of a person asking her if she was Italian. Just because she doesn’t look Italian does not mean she is not. People of the country have given her a lot of hate because of the way she looks. Today she still advocates for equality in the sport.
It’s time for these inappropriate, racist remarks to stop. The players have done all they can to stand up for themselves, but it’s not their responsibility to stop racism. We must hold racist fans and players accountable for their remarks.
