About Us

INTRODUCTION

We are interested in establishing a campaign against racism within North America’s soccer culture based on the framework and principals of Show Racism the Red Card UK.  It is our intent to tailor our organization so that we can address the issues of racism and discrimination that are prevalent in the North American continent. The continually expanding framework of soccer here in this early stage of its development offers an opportunity to highlight sportsmanship, diversity, and a stance against bigotry. This framework is comprised of millions of people, including participants in the incredibly popular American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO), the continually growing local recreation leagues, as well as the fans and players of professional Major League Soccer (MLS), Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) and the national teams of North America.

WHO WE ARE

Our group is comprised of individuals who are passionate about supporting soccer and the fight against racism and discrimination, both here in North America and abroad.  The group has access to individuals involved in soccer at all levels within North America, including close personal relationships with the leadership of several supporters groups, as well as highly influential members of soccer management within professional soccer.  When presented with the idea of establishing an anti-racism campaign focused on the sport in North America, the aforementioned individuals expressed an enthusiastic interest in participation. 

In addition to this network of individuals, we are also fortunate to have backing and full support from the Center for New Community, a national organization based in Chicago.  Its mission is to build community, justice, and equality, through its programs and commitments which are carried out across the U.S. in collaboration with numerous community, state, and national organizations and coalitions.  The Center also engages in community-based organizing in targeted (predominantly rural) locales with immigrant and other worker constituencies.

Since its inception the Center has been driven by an explicit commitment to values-based organizing, with deep roots in communities of faith, and a belief that this is the primary way to advance the development of a more just nation now and in the decades to come. The Center approaches its work through a fundamental understanding of the sweeping, historic impact of race/racism and bigotry in America, and a holds a foundational commitment to counter that harsh reality.

The Center's mission is to build community, justice, and equality.  Since its founding, the Center has grown from a vision to an organization that has had significant impact across the nation.  Its organizing and programming initiatives disseminated across the nation have brought the Center international recognition for its work to counter organized bigotry.  The Center is governed by a national Board of Directors centered out of Chicago, Illinois, with organizing staff posted in four additional states (Connecticut, Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri) which allow its work to be carried out border to border, coast to coast, and with allied organizations internationally.

Core Center for New Community Programs:

  • Midwest Immigrant Health Project
  • Which Way Forward:  African American Immigration and Race
  • Turn It Down:  Campaign Against White Power Music
  • Campaign for a United America Hip Hop Project
  • Nativism Watch:  Confronting Anti-Immigrant Bigotry in America

A BRIEF HISTORY OF RACIST INCIDENTS IN NORTH AMERICAN SOCCER

Over the course of the short history of MLS there have been a handful of racist incidents that have resulted in league management involvement.

In 1996, the inaugural year of the MLS, American striker Roy Lassiter reported to the league office to have been the target of racial slur. The league communicates that this behavior will not be tolerated by players.

In 1998 the league punished Dutch midfielder Edwin Gorter for using a racial slur against one of his own team mates. He was given a two game suspension and fined 20,000 dollars.

Senegalese striker Mamadou Diallo was fined 5,000 dollars for entering the stands and physically confronting a fan in Colorado whom he claimed had been directing racial epithets at him.

During a Columbus vs. New England match in 2008, racial slurs were directed toward a New England player by Columbus supporters.  Columbus supporters had published a video overyoutube.com, which clearly included the racist abuse, giving the incident widespread notoriety across the country.  Eventually, after several fan sites and blogs had covered the incident and published statements expressing their outrage regarding the blatant racism involved, MLS Commissioner Dan Garber issued a statement in response claiming that if the supporters responsible for the incident were identified, they would be banned from MLS games for life.  To date, no individuals have been identified.  

Also in 2008, DC United goal keeper Louis Crayton, was called a monkey and told to go back to the jungle by Houston supporters during a match in Houston.  The individual was quickly identified and banned from attending Houston Dynamo matches indefinitely.

While these incidents involved players or were covered by sports news and resulted in actions taken by league officials, there have been several anecdotal incidents throughout the league that have not seen the involvement of the league officials.

Racist insults and anti immigration chants are often heard at US National team games, particularly against their rival Mexico. These chants and terms have also been heard during MLS matches against Mexican clubs and directed at Hispanic support groups and fans at MLS league matches.

Supporters of several teams have related stories of local Neo Nazis attending MLS matches. The notorious racist website Stormfront has proposed that soccer games present an opportunity to for white supremacists to gather and recruit. Thankfully the groups making these attempts have been swiftly identified and the fans in each city have been able to rebuff them though grassroots organizing to ensure that these tactics will not be welcome in the stands of MLS matches.

There have been several instances of abusive racist language being used by stadium security personnel reported by supporters in DC, New York, Chicago, Houston, San Jose, and LA

In Chicago, the issue of racism in MLS was brought to the forefront when the Chicago Fire supporters groups made a public protest to decry the treatment of Hispanic soccer fans by stadium security. After several years of perceived hostile and antagonist treatment, the issue led to violence when security guards used racist insults against Sector Latino, a supporters group comprised of primarily Mexican Fire fans. The Chicago supporters responded with a protest at the next game demanding that those responsible for racist abuse be held accountable and a review of stadium security be performed to determine how to avoid this abuse. The protest drew attention throughout the league and supporters groups in several other markets expressed their solidarity with Sector Latino by displaying banners with messages against racism.

The protests in Chicago raised the issue of racism to a level that initiated conversations between differing team’s support groups and fans. There seems to be an overall enthusiasm to expose racism and to take steps to ensure that racist behavior will not be accepted in the culture of American soccer. In communications with leadership members of Sam’s Army, the US National Team support group, they have acknowledged that a perception exists that the group’s membership is prone to xenophobic and racist behavior. They have expressed a desire to work on the issue through education and cooperation with organizations opposed to racism.

SHOW RACISM THE RED CARD IN NORTH AMERICA

We wish to take a proactive approach to race related and discriminatory issues in North American soccer and the community at large.  We hope to accomplish this by:

  • Involvement of the leagues and/or teams to adopt anti-racism measures and inclusion of policies and practices, both on the field and in the stands
  • The use of players as both ambassadors and role models to foster a stance against racism in North American soccer.
  • Encouraging supporter group participation throughout the league and to utilize the groups organized structures and communication outlets as a means to deliver a unified message against racism. This league wide participation will also be valuable in providing feedback and alerting us of areas of concern
  • Use of educational and informational materials
  • Providing team and league management the tools and framework to be able to swiftly deal with incidents of racist abuse and insults in a uniform manner.

In order to get our organization started, the group intends to rely heavily on volunteer support. It is our opinion that the most effective way to develop this initial volunteer support is to utilize the various supporters groups located throughout the US. These volunteers would include supporters of Major League Soccer, Women’s Professional Soccer, United Soccer League, and supporters of the North American national teams.

The sport of soccer is at a very intriguing stage in its development in North America. The stability and growth of MLS and the success of the US national team have done much to increase the popularity of the sport in America. Soccer has been incredibly popular at the youth participation level for more than twenty years. Our soccer culture has the unique opportunity of developing with the added benefit of the knowledge that has been gained throughout the sport world wide. Adopting a stance against racism at this early stage of the sports growth and popularity is an opportunity for a positive and proactive effort that other countries have not been fortunate enough to be able to capitalize upon.

We have had several informal discussions with MLS and WPS players and management.  They are very enthused at the idea of welcoming a positive organization such as Show Racism the Red Card to the American soccer landscape. We hope you can join us in making this happen.