Jackie Kay on reading out an anti-racist poem at BDTBL - Monday night

[Hollinsend]

From yesterday's Guardian: http://tinyurl.com/99ob4z2

Let Arthur Wharton come back from the dead
To see the man in black blow the final whistle.
Let the game of two halves be beautiful,
Not years ahead. Let every kissing of the badge,
Every cultured pass, every lad and lass,
Every uttered thought, every chant and rant,
Every strip and stripe – be free of it.

Then football would have truly played a blinder,
And Arthur returned to something kinder.
Let the man in black call time on racism.
And Arthur will sing out on the wings,
Our presiding spirit – the first black blade.
Imagine having everything to play for.
This is our pitch. Now hear us roar.

Good article - well done to the club and Off The Shelf. Hope she gets a good reception.

 

[judge]

love it
posted it on facebook

 

[Slugger]

Poetry's a bit like wine with me. I'm not very educated about it but I know what I like when I taste it.



... and that is very good. Hope it goes down well (like a full-bodied Chardonnay!)

 

[alcoblade]

Like the poem and the sentiment. But like the "kick it out" group, it should be aimed at the dressing room and not at the terraces.

Football (in the UK) is less racist that real life these days. I should say it quietly, but I don't understand what all the fuss is about.

UTB

 

[super_bladesman]

I also think that article shows the club in a good light as well when it mentions how supportive of the kick it out campaign we are.

Hope she gets a good reception from us and the Portsmouth fans as well.

 

[Highbury_Blade]

Like the poem and the sentiment. But like the "kick it out" group, it should be aimed at the dressing room and not at the terraces.

Football (in the UK) is less racist that real life these days. I should say it quietly, but I don't understand what all the fuss is about.

UTB

can't agree with that to be honest. There are plenty of racist dickheads at away games.

 

[JJ Sefton]

Its a fine sentiment but it did remind me a bit of this...

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

Good initative, excellent that the club keep trying to be imaginative with this. I know one or two involved with FURD who would welcome this, if only for the publicity of the cause.

 

[alcoblade]

can't agree with that to be honest. There are plenty of racist dickheads at away games.

Agreed, but there's plenty of racist dickheads in life in general. At football they keep it, more or less, to themselves. I think it's unrealistic to take it to a level below the real world. No harm it trying mind - but it should be made clear that the onus is on the players now.

UTB

 

[JohnDenver]

Agreed, but there's plenty of racist dickheads in life in general. At football they keep it, more or less, to themselves. I think it's unrealistic to take it to a level below the real world. No harm it trying mind - but it should be made clear that the onus is on the players now.

UTB

I'm not worried about the players - if the authorities hadn't made such an arse of things in the last year we wouldn't be talking half as much about it.

Moreover, did football become less overtly racist because society was going that way, or did football help nudge society towards greater civility? I reckon there's a very good case for the latter argument, so I've no problem with football attempting to set the example. In fact, I'm all for it. Not by employing grand gestures, but by getting the basics right first.

 

[alcoblade]

I'm not worried about the players - if the authorities hadn't made such an arse of things in the last year we wouldn't be talking half as much about it.

Moreover, did football become less overtly racist because society was going that way, or did football help nudge society towards greater civility? I reckon there's a very good case for the latter argument, so I've no problem with football attempting to set the example. In fact, I'm all for it. Not by employing grand gestures, but by getting the basics right first.

The problem is that the recent focus on "kick it out" makes many people outside football believe that it has a real problem, just because of the news.

It's a laudable sentiment to want to set an example, but I think aside from the players getting g their act in order, the most likely scenario is that they continue to try to move an unmovable object and the publicity caused by the effort creates the polar opposite image of what they're trying to achieve.

UTB

 

[Darren]

From yesterday's Guardian: http://tinyurl.com/99ob4z2

Let Arthur Wharton come back from the dead
To see the man in black blow the final whistle.
Let the game of two halves be beautiful,
Not years ahead. Let every kissing of the badge,
Every cultured pass, every lad and lass,
Every uttered thought, every chant and rant,
Every strip and stripe – be free of it.

Then football would have truly played a blinder,
And Arthur returned to something kinder.
Let the man in black call time on racism.
And Arthur will sing out on the wings,
Our presiding spirit – the first black blade.
Imagine having everything to play for.
This is our pitch. Now hear us roar.

Good article - well done to the club and Off The Shelf. Hope she gets a good reception.

I agree with the sentiment (obviously), but as for the poem, I can only recall the words of Morrissey in "Frankly Mr Shankly"

"I didn't realise that you wrote poetry
I didn't realise you wrote such bloody awful poetry..."

Interestingly, the poetry I like tends to be that of bigoted right wingers - cf Larkin, Eliot

 

[broomhillblade]

David James said recently:
'I think the organisations which have done so good on the terraces are still employed looking for stuff to be shouting about; issues that we’ve gone on about the last season or so. It’s more about people driving the issue rather than the issue being the real focus.'
Asked whether he was criticising anti-racism groups, he replied: 'Some people get paid for doing a certain job and certain jobs involve bringing stuff to public notice.'

 

[God]

load of PC happy clappy shite IMHO