Watching the football from all different countries, there is one question I have for at least some of the spectators watching from wherever they happen to be. There are a lot of "nationalists" who love their country and want foreigners out, and anyone that looks or sounds foreign - so what do they think and feel when those who they don't see as "one of their own" are scoring goals for the win?
How does it feel?
It must evoke some kind of conflict within to get the win whilst simultaneously dislike some of those who made it happen, right? Which amuses me. But at the same time, it makes me wonder how many times they butt heads with this personal conflict and how they justify it for themselves, and for those who think similarly to them.
Any ideas?
While I can take guesses, I can't really put myself in the shoes of these people, because it is so far away from how I behave. Or perhaps it is because I am not a nationalist, thinking it is kind of a silly way to believe. I get the sporting rivalry, I get the jokes and the culture, and I get the fun of business competition - I just don't get the other side of it, where it is about self-interest above all else, based on quite meaningless attributes. Where people can strongly hate what they likely don't know much about.
When it comes to sports though, it is pretty interesting because at least for many sports, there are clear over and under representations. For example, about 75% of NBA players identify as African American - but the population of the US is only about 15% black. Whereas only about 4% of NHL players are black, with 93% identifying as white.
Do racists watch sports?
I assume so. Which again makes me curious what they think when the team they want to win, wins - but that team is made up of people they don't want to accept as one of their own.
My daughter is very much naïve to all of this at the moment, with only a few school classes over the years broaching racism. She knows it exists, but she herself doesn't really see it exist in her daily life, as her classes have a bit of a mix and they are pretty accepting, so far at least. But I am pretty sure that at some point she is going to see and hear things that just doesn't gel with her experience or outlook of life and other people. And I think that her looking the way she does, is going to mean that others will make assumptions about her background, and speak less guardedly.
How will she feel about that?
I am pretty sure she is going to have her own personal conflicts around racism also, because she is going to be drawn into conversations that will make her uncomfortable, because they are had with friends. Even for me looking the way I do, have been part of conversations where someone "forgets" (not friends) that I am not white, and then afterwards realises and adds something along the lines of "but I don't mean you..."
The world is definitely more multicultural than it was when I was a kid, but at the same time it is also getting less accepting of people who are different. Not just skin colour, culture, or religion - but across many lines, because people have made themselves individuals of some category, believing that they are special for being in that group.
We are all in a minority of one.
But just because that is true, doesn't mean that it is the only group we are within, because we are all in the "human" classification too - though I think it might be debatable for a few of us. At any one time, we could ascribe to thousands of groups, each as slightly different grade to the one next to it, each with the potential to be a differentiator to serve as a point of contention.
But where does that get us?
Well - it looks like we are going to find out in the coming few years, because rather than reducing the space between each other, we are making the gaps ever-wider, and the gradations ever finer. We are all on the spectrum that is almost infinitely divisible, but none of us are identical down to the cell. Rather than treating ourselves and each other as part of a whole, we look to stand apart as a singular individual, which might make us feel better about ourselves, but far less capable as a part of the human species.
We can pretend we are better.
Doesn't make it true.
Taraz
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