Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling has made an extremely strong response to his being racially abused by a Chelsea supporter during his side’s 2-0 loss at Stamford Bridge yesterday. Both police and Chelsea Football Club are investigating the incident, and now Sterling has taken to social media and made his first public remarks about the incident.
Raheem Sterling posted a deep and profound message on his official Instagram account where he hit out not at the Chelsea fan, but at media coverage in general. Sterling posted photos of Daily Mail stories about teammates Tosin Adarabioyo and Phil Foden in order to convey an example of the difference between how white and black players are covered by the media.
Sterling posted two headlines, both about the story of a young Premier Leaguer buying a house for his mother with money from his first big football contract.
The point of the post, in the view of Raheem Sterling, is to show how media coverage such as this contributes to the spread and persistence of racism.
Here is that Instagram post below:
“Good morning I just want to say, I am not normally the person to talk a lot but when I think I need my point to heard I will speak up. 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,” Sterling posted.
“For example you have two young players starting out their careers, both play for the same team, both have done the right thing. Which is buy a new house for their mothers who have put in a lot of time and love into helping them get where they are, but look how the newspapers get their message across for the young black player and then for the young white player.
“I think this is unacceptable both innocent have not done a thing wrong but just by the way it has been worded. This young black kid is looked at in a bad light. Which helps fuel racism and aggressive behaviour, so for all the news papers 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.”
Raheem Sterling himself has seen plenty of negative media coverage over the course of his career. Right before the World Cup this past summer he was criticized for having a tattoo of a gun on his leg. Sterling was forced to explain that the ink honors his father, who was killed by gun violence in Jamaica.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Lineups.com and Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.