Letters to the Editor
9
Football racism
Your article ‘D’ is for Black reminded me of how black footballers are
reported in the British press. Take a typical example found in Metro’s
sports section (page 62, 10th June 2004). Under the caption “OWEN
PUTS FAITH IN HIS MIDDLE MEN” I scroll to the third paragraph that
reads: “Jacques Santini’s side boast an awesome midfield with the muscle
of Patrick Vieira and Claude Makalele complemented by the flair of
Robert Pires and genius of Zinedine Zidane.”
Now, anyone with the least interest in football would know that Patrick
Vieira’s main strength is his quick thinking and accurate passes. Vieira
hardly ever muscles in since his tackles are generally mis-timed and
usually get him booked. Built like a giraffe, he has no muscles to
mention, but whoever the idiot is that wrote this article can only find it
appropriate to attribute ‘muscles’ to two outstanding black players whilst
‘genius’ and ‘flair’ are deemed the fitting description for the two white
ones.
This is the kind of subtle racism eating into the fabric of
our society and keeping many of us in a suppressed
under-class where we have to put up with idiotic
comments like these day-in-day-out!
Benjamin Laurence, London, UK
To whom do we owe our allegiances?
We want a
modern, classy,
forward thinking
men’s magazine,
commited to
black views,
experiences and
the ‘cultures of
black origin’.
Peace, Joy & Blessings
Just wanted to congratulate you on your new
format and the content within it - superb.
This will be a collector’s edition and of
considerable value in years to come [I’m
hanging on to my two!] You will be receiving
a cheque for my subscription shortly.
Drum has really come of age and it is down
to your unwavering vision, honesty and belief
in what you do. Bless you. Please keep it up,
‘The children are hungry!’
Oprah Winfrey recently became the first billionaire
African-American female, if I’m not mistaken, and
Shaun Wallace, London, UK.
there are countless other wealthy individuals around
the world who are of African descent. However, what
I find very puzzling is the general lack of interest in
Africa. We have countless white charities in and outside
Africa, funded by white-folks from all over the world. In 1999,
I went to African/African-American summit in Accra, Ghana,
Drum Media Limited
which was attended by various notable African-Americans
Suite 10, Grove House
and locals and up until this day I still haven’t heard or seen
320 Kensal Road
much progress out of the summit deliberations. We all seem
London
to be willing to die for our claims to being American or British
W10 5BZ
England
whereas few of us care about our natural claim to the
Motherland. Tell me I’m wrong.
Fax: +44 (0)845 280 2817
E: [email protected]
Tom Jenkins, New York, USA.
Web: www.drummedia.net