No doubt I shall be branded a racist for this ...

But I have to confess at more than a little surprise at some of the comments made in the direction of Richards, Howard and Reid off the back of the Chronicle 'story'.


1) They haven't been convicted of anything yet;
2) The Taxi driver could well be lying;
3) Is racism now worse than many crimes?

If there had been a story that Brian Howard had been caught stealing from a shop, would be be demanding that if convicted he never put on a red shirt again?

If there had been a story that Marc Richards had knocked out a white bloke in a pub after too much to drink would we all be demanding that if convicted he never put on a red shirt again?

If there had been a story that Paul Reid had been caught growing dope would we all be demanding that if convicted he never put on a red shirt again?

I'm not for a second second suggesting that racism is acceptable (which no doubt someone will suggest as a result of me having the temerity to ask the question in the first place) but can we please put a sense of perspective on it.

If these three were, and I stress if, p*ssed up and made a racist comment at a taxi driver can we not assume that it is the beer talking rather than brading the three lads paid up members of the KKK. And no, the fact that they've allegedly said it whilst drunk doesn't mean that they are inherently racist before someone replies with that, we've all said things we didn't mean when we're tanked up.

I just completely fail to understand the complete lack of persepective, common sense and the hysteria that surrounds 'racism'.

Tin hat donned ... I shall await the abuse and the accusations of racist that will now follow simply because I consider what appears to be an isolated incident to be nowhere near as serious as other criminal acts.

 

Well said nt

 

Has any of the 3 been charged ?

Or is it still pending ? If not then we should reserve judgment

 

A racist comment?

The Star states that the taxi driver has claimed that he was subjected to a racially-motivated assault by two of the players and that the third man racially abused him, before all three made off without paying the taxi fare.

That's a bit more serious than them all calling him a nasty word as you are claiming.

 

Taking your 3 points:

1) As I said from the start, I hope they will be able to play as normal (!) until or unless they have been found guilty of anything

2) Quite true. Blade or Owl?

3) This is where you are completely out of touch. It just isn't acceptable - even though the anti pc brigade (closet racists) think it is. A racist element to any crime is a factor that legally leads to harsher penalties (and quite rightly). If you punch a bloke in the face cos you are drunk it is one thing. If you do the same but are racially motivated then it's worse. That's why folk on here (including me) say that if anyone at the club was found guilty of a crime which is deemed to have a racist aspect should be sacked. Hopefully that will never happen.

 

"racially aggravated assault and making off without payment" according to the Chronicle

<div style="padding: 3px 0px 5px"><span class="exclusive">breaking news</span></div><h3 class="headline sIFR-replaced"><span class="sIFR-alternate">Reds' trio's race arrest</span></h3><div class="storyauthor">By ADAM CIVICO</div><div>BARNSLEY Football Club has launched an internal investigation following allegations three players were involved in a racist attack on an Asian taxi driver.

The Chronicle understands the three players involved were club captain Paul Reid, midfielder Brian Howard and striker Marc Richards.

The trio were arrested after a night out in Sheffield on Wednesday, March 7 - four days after their 3-1 drubbing at home to Norwich and three days before the 2-0 defeat to Sunderland at Oakwell.

A club spokesman said: &quot;There is going to be an internal investigation but at the moment there is no comment.&quot;

Sheffield police confirmed arrests had been made.

&quot;Police have arrested a 25-year-old man and two 24-year-old men in connection with an incident in a taxi travelling along Penistone Road in Sheffield on Wednesday March 7.

&quot;The 25-year-old man and one of the 24-year-old men were arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated assault and making off without payment. The remaining 24-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated public order and making off without payment,&quot; a spokesman said.

All three have been released on bail pending further enquiries.</div>

 

Bowyer played the best Footie of his career whilst back n forth from court.

Maybe these guys will do that also!

 

How do you know or prove that something is racially motivated. If you get into a fight for a different reason, but in a fit of anger say something racist. Does that now make it racially motivated. Probably not to you, but I bet the other person attempts to make out that it is, and the media would jump on that.

 

Can you explain why it is worse to hit someone because its racially motivated, surely it hurts the same either way. lately everytime there is a crime commited , it seems there is a racist element to it. this cannot be the case.
People are too quick to jump on the racist bandwaggon. The worst racism is between Indians and Pakistanis, they really do hate each other.
I know that my comments will be siezed upon and I will be branded subconsiously racist, but try and live in the real world, not the Politically Correct version.

 

I think its automatically deemed a racially motivated attack as soon has an incident occurs with someone of another ethnic minority.

 

The difference between hitting somebody for whatever reason and hitting them because they happen to be a different race to you is that if you hate people of another race so much that you will use violence then what makes this black person different to the enxt one and the next? If you hate them all so much then you'll continue hitting them surely.

 

There is a lot of B*ll*cks already been written on here today about this. in any other situation most on her would be shouting about the rights of the victim. I would assume that most have never been victims of racism and so don't really know how it feels.

A person should be able to go about earning a legimate a living without fear of attack and abuse and if the players in question played for wednesday your attitudes to it would be the same.

Anyone who gos for a curry in new india garden late on a friday and saturday will know that the staff in their take a lot of abuse from pissed up morons. Would they behave the way in a chippy run by white people... I doubt it.

Taxi red will probably agree that taxi-ings become a dangerous job in todays society and customers forget they are being offered a service. Lets not forget that three Asian taxi drivers have been murdered in yorkshire in the past 12 months.

 

Spot on mate.I'm 100% behind our lads even if they are proven guilty nt

 

p.s not condoning it,but people make mistakes even more so on sauce.Im sure they regret it if true n

 

must say ive come across Taxi drivers that are prats likewise im sure they get plenty in return nt

 

That's the point. The other person doesn't have to 'make out that it is' - if you assault someone, or verbally abuse them, and you use a racially aggravated term, it's all about how they perceive it and what effect it has on them. I dare say that the other person would genuinely feel angered at being racially abused and they have a genuine right to complain about that. In fact, if you (for example) got into a fight with a blackmale andduring the course of the fight shouted something racist and abusive athim - anyone elsewho has had to witness that incident has a right to complain and they can legitimately state that the incident was aggravated by the racist remark (regardless of whether they are white or black or whatever). Racism isn't just offensive to minorities - it should be offensive toeveryone. It's not about it being racially motivated - it's racially aggravated.

 

So if they're convicted of kicking the crap out of a taxi-driver and running off without paying...

You're still 100% behind them? What if they mugged an old lady? Broke into someone's house? Got caught fiddling the social?

If the answer is still 100% behind them, weird but fair enough. If not, why not?

 

You are quite right in a lot of ways - those lads are innocent until proven guilty, it is however an extremely ugly allegation to get wrapped up in. I hope it's not true, Ihope it's a malicious allegation - but if itisn't that would be very disappointing.</p>

To look at the examples you have cited:</p>

1) Brian Howard / Shop theft - dishonesty. Ronnie Glavin was prosecuted for burning down his shop wasn't he? I'm not sure honesty is such an issue in football. Is this right or wrong? I don't know.</p>

2)Marc Richards fighting with a white guy in a pub. Knocked him unconscious. I would hope we would be looking to get rid of a player for that kind of thing - not good for the club. Plenty of people don't get sacked from their job for getting done for fighting, but if it's a decent assault like an ABH you've got to be lucky to keep your job. Certainly if the crime is aggravated by hate circumstances - race, homophobia, religious hatred, attack on avulnerable person - I think that makes it worse and I'd want him out of theclub if proven guilty.</p>

3) Paul Reid growing dope. If it is to smoke you've got to worry about his commitment to his career. Sack him. If it is to sell, you've got a drug dealer. Sack him.</p>

Ithink racism in itselfisn't worse than many crimes - it's more like a factor which makes a crime worse.</p>

</p>

</p>

 

No im not agreeing with it just saying whats point speculating until investigations concluded nt

 

point 2) Chosen one or Pig