Have a second though
Regarding what was said at the Chelsea game, as you can see by my reaction, I just had to laugh because I don t expect no better, he wrote in an Instagram post the day after the game, in what remains a damning assessment of the atmospheres and sickening attitudes too often allowed to fester in football stadia – supposedly places of celebration and work for young athletes.
But Sterling was keen to turn the focus outwards, taking the opportunity to highlight the contrasting tones with which the Daily Mail reported on two of his young team-mates Phil Foden and Tosin Adarabioyo – one white, one black – buying houses for their mothers.
This young black kid is looked at in a bad light, which helps fuel racism an aggressive behaviour, Sterling posted, before imploring news outlets to have a second thought about fair publicity
Troy Townsend, head of development at anti-racism and discrimination organisation Kick It Out, felt this reframing was particularly timely given the events a week earlier at the north London derby, where a Tottenham fan threw a banana skin at Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
My response was, literally, Well done, Raheem , Townsend told Omnisport.
The week before, [the Aubameyang incident] wasn t racism to many. That wasn t racism to people who have never experienced the act of the banana being thrown at them or being called a monkey.
So, Raheem s was a massive, great step. It let the media look at each other and I think that s massive. In one post he s made elements of the media change.
Far from being hindered by the increased focus upon him as an eloquent and reluctant role model, Sterling has gone from strength to strength on the field.
