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Interesting video thank you for posting that. Hooliganism is a very big problem in european football and it's depressing to think that this very popular world sport (except in the US) is reflective of european society at large.
I'm going to post some interesting, RELEVANT links and I hope the mods here don't delete my post :
Interesting video thank you for posting that. Hooliganism is a very big problem in european football and it's depressing to think that this very popular world sport (except in the US) is reflective of european society at large.
I'm going to post some interesting, RELEVANT links and I hope the mods here don't delete my post :
Thanks for the links. Some of the answers by William Gallard were not well thought out. For example he wrote this: "We are dealing, when we deal with Spain or Italy or England ten years ago — it’s changed a lot — we’re dealing with extremist groups. It wouldn’t be the case in American soccer because it’s not popular enough."
Soccer may not be popular here but American football is popular and we sell out large stadiums yet you don't see Americans chanting monkey comments, throwing bananas on the field and holding KKK or Nazi flags in our stadiums. If one American was to do that, he or she would be escorted out of the stadium by security or perhaps even jailed.
Again, I don't think Americans take issue with the hooliganism such as the fighting but the overt demonstrations of racism is downright shameful and an embarrassment on Europe. There is nothing in this country that is as remotely directly racist like this.
I wouldn't say it's reflective of European society as a whole (because European countries aren't like American states, they are VERY different from one another so there is not one collective 'society' as such) however it is certainly reflective of certain sections of our societies. It's sad but football (soccer) is used a platform for violence and hatred by some people, although thankfully they are a small minority. Nevertheless, it does happen.
That's convenient. People of various European nations will refer to themselves as Europeans espcially when comparing themselves to Americans. They share currency ie the EURO. They have free and open borders among many countries. But of course, it's convenient to suddenly ask to be recognized for your individual country when racism is being discussed.
I wouldn't say it's reflective of European society as a whole (because European countries aren't like American states, they are VERY different from one another so there is not one collective 'society' as such) however it is certainly reflective of certain sections of our societies. It's sad but football (soccer) is used a platform for violence and hatred by some people, although thankfully they are a small minority. Nevertheless, it does happen.
I think it would be different if these events were limited to certain countries but they are occurring all over Europe including Great Britain and France. It's not just in Spain.
I assure you it's not this bad in all countries. If you go to Eastern Europe then you will get a lot of racism and Spain and a few other countries do still have a problem with it.
The Nazis can just go and die, they are just a joke and what the person says about how theres been no civil rights movement in Europe, thats because Europe is not a country and it would have to go through the EU in order to be put into place.
In terms of hooligans this has pretty much stopped in Britain although you may get a few scraps outside some grounds but they are nothing like in the 70s and 80s.
In Britain we have very little racism like you won't here crowds calling someone a N****r. You also won't find Nazi flags or anything like that in Britain because in stadiums here about 1/3 or so of the crowd are probably not white.
And when you here people grouping Europe, Britain is not always counted because i assure you there are a quite a few black/asian people here and you do not get racist chants here.
Last edited by LondonUSA; 03-12-2011 at 10:03 AM..
I laughed my ass off at the "It wouldn’t be the case in American soccer because it’s not popular enough." quote.
America DOES have racism, but it's not nearly as tollerated as it aparently is over in certian Euro countries. It has nothing to do with popularity (obviously), just everything to do with the fact that our country is alot more diverse.
You may see Rebel flags in some places, but that's it, and even then it's like 50/50 that the guys holding those flags are truly racist.
It is sad and it just makes me wish that one of those jackasses shouting racial slurs to the players and making Nazi guestures would do that sh*t in a game over HERE. I would love to see just one come to my school (an HBCU) and do that. Just to see if he gets out alive....
That's convenient. People of various European nations will refer to themselves as Europeans espcially when comparing themselves to Americans. They share currency ie the EURO. They have free and open borders among many countries. But of course, it's convenient to suddenly ask to be recognized for your individual country when racism is being discussed.
I know all about that. I am from Europe (Ireland) and dont cosider myself anything but Irish. Most of my friends from Ireland/UK and other parts of Europe dont consider themselves anything but their own nationality.
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