“People make use of stories and associations when looking at other people. We know the stories of what we think it’s generally like to be a man, a woman, black, or white, and we associate this with other people. Once we make a hierarchy based on these stories and associations, it becomes a cultural process.” Prof. dr. Jacco van Sterkenburg has been interviewed by Humberto Tan for the Dutch documentary ‘Allemaal Gelijk’, which will be aired on ESPN, 4 May at 20:45, as well as on YouTube. Additionally, Jacco has been interviewed by de Volkskrant regarding homophobic chants in football stadiums.
Jacco’s research focusses on racism and inclusion in football and therefore he often contributes to various articles and projects on racism and discrimination in football. Recently, Jacco was asked to contribute to the documentary ‘Allemaal Gelijk’, which focusses on both paid and amateur football. Within the documentary, various (ex)footballers, supporters, trainers, and researchers try to find answers to difficult questions on racism in football. The central question was “What are the consequences for football players and supporters who experience racism and discrimination and how can we change this for the better?”
Hierarchies as a cultural process
With his experience, Jacco tried to explain the developments in racism and discrimination regarding football. “We speak of discrimination when hierarchies are being formed based on gender, the colour of your skin, ethnicity, sexuality, etc. As people, we naturally make distinctions between ourselves and others. When hierarchies are formed, this natural occurrence becomes a cultural process. Within these hierarchies, these identities are subordinated, without them having a say in it themselves,” Jacco explains. “Inequalities are reinforced this way, which also happens in football.”
In the documentary ‘Allemaal Gelijk’, Jacco explains how discrimination is often based on underlying stereotypes that everyone unintentionally uses and how awareness of these underlying stereotypes can help make a change. “For example, we unintentionally associate white people with a form of leadership, because this is what we usually see in the media. So, this automatically forms an association. The same happens in football. Most football trainers in the Netherlands are white men. So, you’ll probably associate a good football trainer with a white man. I unintentionally do this as well, so the best I can do is to be aware of this and to try and change this view for myself.”
Homophobic chants
Recently, there have been more instances in which football supporters have chanted homophobic phrases towards football players and other supporters. For example, towards PSV footballer Xavi Simons and the chants of fans of Twente “those are the gays from Groningen”. Jacco was interviewed by de Volkskrant to give insights on the missing policy of the KNVB. “Homophobic chants do not seem to be a priority for the KNVB. That could because of the low media coverage and societal outrage, which was bigger after the incident with Excelsior footballer Mendes Moreira. Now there are rules regarding ‘jungle sounds’”, according to Jacco. “The football clubs themselves are afraid to take action. They fear angry supporters, or fear that they will be the subject of an investigation.”
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The sixth Sport and discrimination Conference will take place on Friday 23 June.
By inviting presentations from academics, students, practitioners, and policy makers from a variety of backgrounds and specialisms, relating to sports and/or discrimination, the sixth annual Sport and Discrimination Conference examines the intersectional nature of discrimination in sport. This one-day conference will embrace a broad focus, which sheds a light on belonging, identity, and exclusion within sport and the sport media.
Interested? Read more about this conference here.