How racist were we ? (In the 70s)


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A few black former players were discussing racism on 5live recently, and while they said the London clubs were the worst, we also got a mention as being bad

Were we particularly bad?

I started in the 80s and everyone still called Gary Bennett midnight :oops:
Benno was happy enough here to make it his home! Tells a great tale at talk ins about being asked to encourage Howard Gayle to join club and showing him round Sunlun--" 2 black fellas walking round--we stopped traffic" :lol:
They were probably thinking look at all those daft white honkies :lol:;)
 
My dad used to say we sung about being all white and proud?
 
Some very creative songs get blasted out still on the coaches to away games. Very rarely actually see it aimed at anyone directly in person.
 
Benno was happy enough here to make it his home! Tells a great tale at talk ins about being asked to encourage Howard Gayle to join club and showing him round Sunlun--" 2 black fellas walking round--we stopped traffic" :lol:
They were probably thinking look at all those daft white honkies :lol:;)
Whatever we called him we all loved benno. Was about 10 years later that I actually realised that name was racist :lol:
 
Believed he was hopeless, or that he shipped flak for being black? :)

TBH I can't recall any of our own black players being abused from the terraces.
Believed that he came straight from the jungle to roker
 
Believed he was hopeless, or that he shipped flak for being black? :)

TBH I can't recall any of our own black players being abused from the terraces.
I was at Portsmouth a few years ago and one of our supporters was screaming horrid racial abuse at Kenwyne Jones and Dwight Yorke I think it was. Also at home, a guy behind me was calling Darryl Powell and another Derby player black c...ts etc. I reported it and at the next home game there was somebody else in that seat.

I mentioned that it wasn't the same guy to a steward, and he knew exactly the seat number, I was really pleased the club hadn't just ignored it.
 
Whatever we called him we all loved benno. Was about 10 years later that I actually realised that name was racist :lol:
amazing how many simple things have been deemed as racist after being accepted by our society for years--Blackboards (yet we changed from using the term from coloured to blacks?) getting golliwogs after saving tokens from jam.
Not saying all was perfect then at all but highlighting or changing stuff like that can make things worse! As said in my OP Benno happy enough here and still well thought of in his locals:cool:
 
It was pretty bad, but not very much out of the ordinary for the time. One of the problems was that there were, at that time, very few black people living in the the North East, so it was a product of lack of experience of living and working with minorities, on top of the prevailing lack of awareness of racial issues.

This, definitely. Before I moved away in the late 70's, the only black fella I'd ever spoken to was an older bloke who was always smartly dressed, and wore a trilby. I think he lived in a flat above Jessie's florist's on Pallion Road, and always went along the terrace for his shopping every day. I think he came over in the 50's. Everyone was always polite to him, and most would say good morning etc. It was different on the terraces though, but, as you say, lack of experience etc.
 
I was at Portsmouth a few years ago and one of our supporters was screaming horrid racial abuse at Kenwyne Jones and Dwight Yorke I think it was. Also at home, a guy behind me was calling Darryl Powell and another Derby player black c...ts etc. I reported it and at the next home game there was somebody else in that seat.

I mentioned that it wasn't the same guy to a steward, and he knew exactly the seat number, I was really pleased the club hadn't just ignored it.

I'm sure on an individual basis it happened and possibly still does, all I'm saying is that it wasn't prevalent.
 
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