I'm not sure I'm right to start this thread and I'm even less sure about how to explain what's behind it.

Firstly, let me say that HOL is my only online interaction. I have no interest or involvement in Facebook, Twitter or any other social media so I have no personal experience. But, from what I see and hear these sites are a breeding ground for venomous hatred and malicious gossip carried out by folk who seem to have nothing better to do than sling vile abuse at other people they don't know whilst remaining anonymous.

What troubles me though, is how much of this abuse aimed at black folk is deemed to be racist when colour may not really be the issue. I was struck, in particular by the incident in the Man Utd/Leicester game at the weekend when Fred made a sloppy back pass and let Iheanacho in to score for Leicester. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he received a fair amount of stick for that. He claims it was racist. Was it racist though? I shouted 'you idiot!' at him through my TV. Not because of the colour of his skin, but because he made a silly mistake. It happens. What if Maguire had done that I wondered? Would I have yelled at him? You bet I would.

There's been a fair amount of abuse thrown at our own people on here, even the manager sparks furious debate. I don't like to see it, but there isn't much said if criticism is made of a Welsh goalkeeper for instance. What if he was black? Would that criticism be automatically considered racist?

At this point I should say I do not consider myself racist. I have worked with people from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds in various countries and always had good relationships with them. In fact, I went out with a black girl from Croydon in the late sixties for a while, but that's another story.

I wholeheartedly support Wilf in standing up against racism. The kneeling thing has lost it's impact now, standing says a lot more. Racism is wrong which ever way you look at it, but that's not the only reason behind online criticism.

Some of the online comments we all read about almost every day are just plain awful, but when it's a person from an ethnic background on the receiving end it's not necessarily racist. Or is it?

Dad and I watched games standing on the muddy slope of the Holmesdale Road end. He cheered and I rattled.

Interesting topic POG,

We all know that 'people of colour' will shout & use the 'racist' card at any & all occasion, NOT all, might i add. We all know that it is usually a certain section of light coloured people who condem, shout n scream racism on behalf of our colonial cousins.

There is no 'black' races, they are different shades of brown. There are no 'white' races, they are different shade from pink thru to light brown. In the winter im a pale shade of pink, in the summer im beetroot/lobster.

If/when a person of colour says/writes something about another person of colour its not deemed racist, BUT, if a person of light colour says/writes the same thing, it is . . . WHY? It seems that our liberal left/wokes are the voicepiece for the outraged.

Does me writing this make me a racist, probably by certain sections, do i care . . . NO. I treat people exactly like/how they treat me, worked so far for almost 65 years.

Edited by eagleman13 (23 Mar 2021 4.17pm)

I'm a blind man, i'm a blind man, now my room is cold,
When a blind man cries, Lord, he feels it from his soul.
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our abuse of Brighton has been deemed 'homophobic' in some circles.

The only defence i can offer is this....if our Rivals were 'Stoke' then all our jokes would be about dishes, plates, pottery and other related garb.

we would pottery-ophobic.

which came first, the football rivalry or the gay town ?

Personally, i would never do homophobic abuse on somebody. But i reserve the right to abuse brighton fans who are straight or otherwise.

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ditto for Race. If i shout abuse at, say, Ike Turner....its because he is a wife-beater. And we should be allowed to abuse a wife-beater without somebody playing the old 'you are a racist' card.

Edited by PalazioVecchio (23 Mar 2021 5.02pm)

Eze Peasy at Anfield....

And we have automatically accepted that a racial slur is worse than another slur. It is part of the indoctrination. It is blamed on 'history'. Very selective history.

People get offended by all sorts. On what basis can one say that one form of insult is more hurtful than another? Do we now decide these things based on who complains the most? Or who causes the most disorder?

We all face prejudice of one sort or another, and I'm sure everyone has been purposefully antagonized by some moron to get a reaction at some point.

Apparently, if you are a certain colour, it means that the whole White nation has to take notice and accept collective responsibility every time it happens.

It's a joke.

Yes, racism is a one way street.

Is it fvck.

These last few months I keep being told by all the corporations, institutions, millionaire footballers and politicians that 'black lives matter'.....I'm looking around at the diversity industry and how many working class whites are going to university......And what I'm seeing is a con.

I remember a woman on camera saying that 'no one has the white man's back anymore'....loses her job. A white guy flies a plane with a message saying 'white lives matter', loses his job. Stromzy says he isn't anti white but he's pro black....Nothing but praise.

Who is subservient to who.

There is what people say and then there is what happens.

Edited by Stirlingsays (23 Mar 2021 11.03pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)