Norwich City Academy recently welcomed Norfolk Constabulary to the Lotus Training Centre for an important discussion on racism, equality and Black History Month.
Players from the club’s under-23s and under-18s teams discussed discrimination in football, whether it is on the rise and who their role models are when it comes to standing up for equality and diversity.
Julie Inns, Norfolk Constabulary’s equality and diversity manager, said it was good exercise for the police as it helped them understand young footballers’ perspective and their views on why racism and hate crimes are on the rise in the sport once more.
“We looked at racism in football, and in the wider community, we looked at trailblazers and role models and at unconscious bias,” explained Julie. “So, it all had a thread going through it around what does our historical context tell us about football and racism on the terraces in the 1970s right through to the question: is it on the rise again today and what drives that?
“It was an interesting debate hearing from the youngsters who, obviously wouldn’t have been around in the 1970s, to see what their opinions are as to why hate crime and racism is on the rise in the sport again now.”
Inspector Jason Selvarajah, chair of the Ethnic Minority Police Association, added: “We were here to talk about hate crime week and how it is linked to football. It is important to talk to potential footballers of the future and to have a wider awareness and to get a perspective, from policing, as to how it affects us all.” The day also covered stop and search, as it is estimated that you are nine times more likely in Norfolk to be stopped and searched if you are black, as opposed to white. “There were a number of young black men in the group that we presented to, that are going to be disproportionately affected by stop and search from policing,” added Jason. “I am from London. I have got a very similar journey to some of the young lads in the group because, whilst I am not black, I am mixed heritage and I have faced some of those challenges myself. So, I am trying to bring that learning back to the police service so we can then start to work more closely with our communities.” Under-18s players Finley Welch and David Aziaya said the talk was very important from their perspective. Finley said: “It was a very important discussion as the problem of inequality is still here. It’s something that needs to be resolved. Raising awareness of these issues enables people to learn more about it. David added: “It’s really important to raise awareness for people who are uneducated. I feel like hopefully we can get to a point where we don’t need a Black History Month that shows how valuable black people are and get to a place of equality.”The Academy recently welcomed officers and staff from the @NorfolkPolice to talk racism and equality in an important workshop 🗣#NCFC | #BlackHistoryMonth pic.twitter.com/vomE4I22p8
— Norwich City Academy (@NorwichCityAcad) October 28, 2021