After Raheem Sterling was allegedly racially abused in the Manchester City v Chelsea game some time ago, he took to Instagram and in acknowledging the event, flipped the whole narrative of the incident to highlight what he felt was the media’s role in it.
In his posts he questioned the way in which the press provides unfair coverage of young, black sportsmen compared to white sportsmen and so potentially add fuel to the racism fire. He said, “So for all the newspapers that don’t understand why people are racist in this day and age all I have to say is have a second thought about fair publicity and give all players an equal chance.” The then head of equality and diversity for the PFA issued a statement at the time saying “We have been aware for a few months of the targeting Raheem faces in the press, it is evident that he is often singled out and treated more harshly than his colleagues. As such, these stories are fuelling racism within the game, as reports of racist abuse continue to rise.”
There are a myriad of stories about Raheem Sterling’s life on and off the pitch probably more than most players. In the Daily Star on 3rd December 2016 the paper’s Harry Kemble tells us about “Raheem Sterling’s seven cars” and in case we couldn’t work it out that was “one for every day of the week”. The same newspaper on 25th January 2017 and Tom Evans breaks the shocking news that Sterling had been seen “turning up to training without parting with any dosh to clean his car” and as such “has been branded the dirtiest player in the Premier League”. Tom also tells us that “stunned shoppers have seen the 22-year-old browsing the aisles at Manchester budget stores and even flying back from the Costa del Sol by easyJet.” Neither article is overtly racist but does paint Sterling in two very negative and contrasting ways and could well lead to the more extreme displays of racism that he has endured on the pitch.
In an interview with the New York Times Sterling explained how Cristiano Ronaldo was known for displaying his wealth on social media. Sterling said, “If he is showing you his car, showing he is on top of the world, if that is what he puts out, then call him flashy. But I’m not showing you that, so why are you calling me that?” He was reacting to stories such as the one above where it was insinuated that he owned seven cars but explained the pictures of each car had been collated over several years and never had he owned seven cars at once.
In June 2016 the Mail Online ran an article “Raheem shows off blinging house” that he bought for his mother, shortly after being sent home from Euro 2016. The article was based on mobile phone footage a friend of Sterling had posted on social media and Sterling was quoted as being “furious and frustrated” with the footage. Many commentators also picked up on the word “blinging” which originates from black, hip-hop culture.
This article again shows Sterling in a very negative light and highlighted his failure in Euro 2016. Contrast the story run by the Mail Online with the story of Phil Foden run by the Daily Mail newspaper in October 2018 “Foden buys £2m home for mum” and this time the brilliant news is its fantastic that Phil Foden has done that for his mother and no mention of the word “blinging” in this story. But unlike Sterling who’s “blinging house” was for his mother Foden’s house was for his family and parents. The treatment given to the two stories was very different and you can see how this could lead to at the very least “unconscious bias”.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/6397808/raheem-sterling-m16-assault-rifle-tattoo/ – Read more from another article Sterling has been racially profiled in.
So why is this happening? I believe the black community is hugely underrepresented in the media so the way in which black people are shown isn’t recognised in the narratives that are set. The Black Collective of Media in Sport has organised conferences and lobbied industry decision makers to be aware and increase diversity in the media. Sterling isn’t perfect and whilst he doesn’t like headlines such as “Sterling caught inhaling hippy crack again” Mail Online 2015 he admits that some stories are relevant to his status as a footballer whereas other stories just go way beyond that.
