The Most Loud Racism Precedents and How They Ended
The year is 2023, and despite many organizations aiming for diversity, racism is still an active issue in modern sports. There has been a lot of improvement in that area, but unfortunately, the precedents still happen, even though they are usually resolved amicably.
This article will describe the most famous racist incidents in modern sports. We will describe the issue and explain how exactly it ended if there was a clear-cut resolution. Unfortunately, many cases didn’t complete satisfactorily.
Note that this article won’t revolve around matches and games or include any betting information. To get more familiar with wagering, check other texts, for example, this one covering 1xBet Nigeria.
Donald Sterling vs. TMZ Tabloid; Basketball
In 2015, a news website, TMZ, released an audio tape that allegedly included Donald Sterling, a billionaire, and the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team owner, judging his girlfriend for bringing African Americans to the game and taking photos with them. The outrage that resulted from a leak led to him selling the team for USD 2 billion.
The event resulted in an enormous scandal, with Sterling filing a lawsuit against TMZ. The court dismissed it, stating that TMZ had a right to publish it under the US Constitution. The recording wasn’t unlawful either; Sterling knew his girlfriend was recording him.
Kevin Prince-Boateng and AC Milan Leaving the Pitch After Racist Chants; Soccer
In 2013, an incident occurred during a friendly match between AC Milan and Pro Patria. The fans of the latter started shouting racist remarks at Milan player Kevin Prince-Boateng. He just left the field, and so did the rest of his team. The gesture was widely praised, and AC Milan’s coach, Massimino Allegri, said his team would walk away again if the same thing happened during any game.
Williams Sisters Boycotting Indian Wells for Years; Tennis
Indian Wells is a famous tennis tournament. It’s among the largest and most important ones outside the four Grand Slams. But there’s a reason why Serena and Venus Williams opened up about why they boycotted it for fourteen years.
In her autobiography and interviews, Serena cited an incident in 2001 when the crowd was booing at her, using racial slurs and other remarks after Venus withdrew due to a knee injury. It seems that the fact that the game between sisters wouldn’t happen angered the crowd. She states that the event shocked her, and she hasn’t experienced anything like that ever in her career, both before and after. What makes the matter even worse is that the tennis crowd is usually quiet and well-mannered, so nobody usually expects such behavior.
Serena and her sister decided to boycott a tournament. Serena ended her boycott only in 2015, essentially avoiding it for fourteen years.
Kelly Tilghman Commenting on Tiger Woods; Golf
The incident happened in early 2008. During the Mercedes-Benz Championship, Kelly Tilghman, the broadcaster on the Golf Channel, joked about Tiger Woods, a famous golf player. Many people interpreted the joke as a racist one, which led to her suspension from the channel. The issue was fueled further by a controversial Golfweek magazine cover the next week, which led to the firing of the editor responsible for it.
Tiger Woods and many others defended her, with Woods mentioning that he and Tilghman were friends and there was no ill intent. He stated, “It was more media-driven than anything else.”
Conclusion
The situation with racism in sports is slowly and steadily getting better, but it still exists. We compiled some of the most loud incidents in our text and described them in detail. We hope that one day, the issue of racism will be solved entirely or at least become minimal, but for now, we can only look at the most known cases and make sure things like that don’t happen again.
