DNA Edit: France’s ‘African’ players can’t beat racism despite win

Though sports fans celebrated as France beat Croatia to win the World Cup, the victory is not being seen in a ‘sporting’ light. Optimists across the world are doing their best to impart political meaning to the victory, by suggesting it was due to the 15 players of African origin in the team. The success of these players on the world stage means, they suggest, a victory against hardline, anti-immigration policies, touted by President Donald Trump and other politicians, and growing acts of racism in the West. Such attitudes, they say, will diminish with images of African-origin players celebrating the French victory. This attitude is well meaning, but unrealistic, as it believes that sporting triumphs can prevail over politics. Racism is an emotion that cannot be defeated with logic.

In the UK, a majority of the British people voted for Brexit because of xenophobic attitudes. In the US, a majority of people believe in Trump’s ‘Wall’, despite the facts to the contrary. They are not likely to care about or be convinced by a sporting triumph. The other issue is that sporting stars, who have their ethnic origins in another nation, have hardly ever been able to convince the public that they belong to them. Superstar Zinedine Zidane had to constantly march a balancing line between French fans who thought his heart was with Algeria, while Algerians felt he had ‘betrayed’ the country of his birth. This duality remained a millstone around Zidane’s neck, right through his playing career. Finally, one has to consider the possibility — what if the French team had lost to Croatia? The black players would most likely have been seen as ‘black immigrants’ and not Frenchmen. Despite what we would like to think, a World Cup win is unlikely to change the world.