Every couple of months we’re confronted with shocking examples of racial abuse, prompting the usual array of responses from the global commentariat. If the person on the receiving end of that racism is passive then we criticise the perpetrator’s behaviour, praise the silent victim of abuse for their restraint, and give nods to whatever year it is as a sign that, really, things should be more progressive by now. But if they retaliate? Well, then the blame game starts. The unhelpful advice to respond calmly, to “be the bigger person”, is dished out by those who consider abuse a mere bit of unpleasantness; those who bear the emotional toll of relentless racism are forced to remind them, yet again, that they know not of what they speak.
This week, it was the turn of footballer Leonardo Bonucci to start handing out advice. Commenting on the racist abuse football fans lobbed at his Juventus teammate Moise Kean on Tuesday night’s match against Cagliari, he claimed the 19-year-old’s less than humble response to being confronted by a chorus of monkey sounds shared the blame for creating a toxic atmosphere.
He said: “Kean knows that when he scores a goal, he has to focus on celebrating with his teammates. He knows he could’ve done something differently too. I think the blame is 50-50, because Moise shouldn’t have done that and the Curva [Cagliari’s fans] should not have reacted that way.”
Bonucci was referring to Kean’s decision to celebrate scoring a goal in front of the opposing team’s fans in the last five minutes of the match – after withstanding sustained racist jeering for almost the entire 90 minutes of play.
But still, according to Bonucci half of the blame lie’s at Kean’s feet, because his outstretched arms and defiant attitude are apparently just as offensive and antagonistic as belittling someone’s very existence based on nothing more than their race.
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There is no 50-50 when it comes to incidents like these. And Bonucci’s choice to pit Kean against another player, Blaise Matuidi – who was also subjected to racism that night yet chose to respond differently – also suggests that remaining silent in the face of abuse is a more moral and mature thing to do. That taps directly into the “respectability politics” playbook, a racist proposition in itself.
Bonucci couldn’t possibly know what Matuidi was feeling, yet the narrative of the “good black man” versus the “bad black man” is much easier to accept than the fact that there is no such thing as a provocation to racism; you either feel those ugly things deep down, or you don’t.
Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri felt the need to lay into the teenage footballer too. “You need great intelligence to deal with these situations and should not go to provoke people. That, of course, does not mean the idiots in the crowd and the way they reacted should be justified,” he said – once again playing into the idea that racism was Kean’s just dessert given his apparent display of arrogance.
But when racist behaviour is staring you in the face, snarling, raging, or even passively bubbling under the surface, there’s far more at stake than bruised feelings. Especially when it happens over and over again.
Our academic understanding of the psychological impact of racism is lacking, but there are a handful of studies that suggest that the effects of racial trauma can range from depression to substance abuse. That’s not to say that every personal encounter with racism will see someone’s mental health immediately deteriorate, but the scale and range of the abuse that an individual experiences can have a huge impact on the way those on the receiving end perceive themselves and the rest of the world.
In an interview with The Cut in 2017, Erlanger Turner, one of very few researchers looking into racial trauma, said that “racial trauma may result from racial harassment, witnessing racial violence, or experiencing institutional racism” and can see people experience “symptoms of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, feelings of humiliation, poor concentration, or irritability”.
Those who don’t understand what racism feels like may find that hard to digest. Too often, people see it as akin to being mean. If you are called an arsehole by a stranger you might let your feelings get the better of you for a minute or so, but you can brush insults like that off. If you try to brush off crowds of people collectively negating your worth as a human because of your blackness, or managers and teammates who think flaunting your success is akin to that discrimination, you’ll need a healthy dose of denial to achieve it.
Thankfully, Kean doesn’t seem to have been swayed by the victim-blaming he has experienced this week. With stars such as Stormzy and Raheem Sterling speaking out in his defence, I hope he feels supported.
But the next time this happens to someone in public – and it will, whether that’s on the football pitch or on a train – the last thing I want to hear are the usual empty, tone-deaf calls for victims to behave like a saint, no matter the personal cost. But I won’t hold my breath.
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