Our world has changed dramatically in the past three decades. I am old enough to remember when playing Pac-Man and listening to a discman cd player was considered cutting edge! I remember vividly when Facebook gained traction in 2007. In common with the majority of people, I never imagined the transformational changes that social media would bring to the way we communicate.
Despite the positive changes that social media has undoubtedly brought, allowing us to connect to audiences throughout the world, it also provides a platform to racist abusers.
For me, eradicating racism has often felt like trying to catch up with one’s shadow. An impossible task. Recent events surrounding the final of Euro 2020 are reminders that a significant minority of people remain incorrigible in their attitudes toward race. It was depressing but unfortunately not surprising to see Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho receive racial abuse because they missed penalties.
Racism is learned behaviour and we need to look critically at what can be done to fight racism within communities and institutions. Racism will only be successfully tackled when all sections of society work collectively to address both its causes and manifestations.