• Former international footballer blames some of country's favourite writers for perpetuating 'negative images of black people'
  
• Jamaican-born Barnes said racism exists because of ‘preconceived ideas’ that are planted through books and films that validate colonial prejudices
  
• The 48-year-old called for children to be taught the non-existence of race as a concept on the National Curriculum
  

They have penned some of the nation’s best-loved books and are revered as greats of the literature world.

But authors such as Nobel Laureate Rudyard Kipling and Agatha Christie have been blamed for making Britain a country of ‘passive racists’ by portraying the white British imperialists as superior and native people as savages.

Former England star John Barnes said favourite tales, including Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan of the Apes and Kipling's The Jungle Book, have instilled bigotry into the minds of generations.

Bigotry: England footballer, John Barnes told students at Liverpool University that 'passive racism' was in everyone because of hundreds of years of subtle bigotry in British culture

His Christie comment was no doubt a reference to the title of her 1939 best-selling novel Ten Little Niggers - which caused such a furore that it was renamed a year later in the US as Ten Little Indians.

Modern versions of the book have been re-marketed as And Then There Were None.

And In Death On The Nile, her characters express a casual contempt for 'the natives' from their boat.

The ex-Liverpool winger launched a fierce attack on classic literature in a lecture to students at Liverpool University entitled ‘What is the cause of racism in football?

Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1vFV4ogqh

Its more a reflection of the times in which it was written. Sad to see such old nonsense dredged up by a footballer. Clearly trying to reinvent himself as some kind of intellectual.

A bigger problem in English football is of course ... homophobia.

A bigger problem in English football is of course ... homophobia.

I'm not sure I get this one. Does anyone need to know? Some guys will be uncomfortable with sharing showers or dressing rooms with other players if they know they are gay.

Not offering the rights or wrongs there JT, simply stating fact. Surely some are fairly well known to be but keep it quiet for the sake of their career....and large sums of cash involved.

A bigger problem in English football is of course ... homophobia.

I'm not sure I get this one. Does anyone need to know? Some guys will be uncomfortable with sharing showers or dressing rooms with other players if they know they are gay.

Not offering the rights or wrongs there JT, simply stating fact. Surely some are fairly well known to be but keep it quiet for the sake of their career....and large sums of cash involved.

we all know David beckham is a closet gay , and Wayne Rooney wants to be, but can only bag 60 year prostitues ....

but as smokie mentioned, wht has this OP got to do with English Football being Homophobic, or is it just a case that no major footballer is openly gay? , but then it just might be the case none are???

You cannot be an OUT gay footballer in Britain without suffering massive harassment and career damage. This includes the way the fans act out their homophobia at the games. The evidence is the tragic case of Justin Fashanu.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/04/sports-charter-homophobia-football

http://www.towleroad.com/2012/01/british-footballer-joey-barton-speaks-out-against-homophobia-reveals-uncle-is-gay.html

A bigger problem in English football is of course ... homophobia.

I'm not sure I get this one. Does anyone need to know? Some guys will be uncomfortable with sharing showers or dressing rooms with other players if they know they are gay.

Not offering the rights or wrongs there JT, simply stating fact. Surely some are fairly well known to be but keep it quiet for the sake of their career....and large sums of cash involved.

we all know David beckham is a closet gay , and Wayne Rooney wants to be, but can only bag 60 year prostitues ....

but as smokie mentioned, wht has this OP got to do with English Football being Homophobic, or is it just a case that no major footballer is openly gay? , but then it just might be the case none are???

None are? Are you having a laugh?

Does anyone need to know? It depends. Maybe one of them wants to enter one of the famous UK legal same sex civil partnerships. So they're supposed to not wed the one they know? If they do wed, the world will know. The attitude that gay people should hide and live a LIE is supporting oppression and mental anguish.

A bigger problem in English football is of course ... homophobia.

I'm not sure I get this one. Does anyone need to know? Some guys will be uncomfortable with sharing showers or dressing rooms with other players if they know they are gay.

Not offering the rights or wrongs there JT, simply stating fact. Surely some are fairly well known to be but keep it quiet for the sake of their career....and large sums of cash involved.

we all know David beckham is a closet gay , and Wayne Rooney wants to be, but can only bag 60 year prostitues ....

but as smokie mentioned, wht has this OP got to do with English Football being Homophobic, or is it just a case that no major footballer is openly gay? , but then it just might be the case none are???

None are? Are you having a laugh?

some might dress like then should be , but i am not aware of many .... if any ?

smokie would have to fill the gap ( not being a gay, but being a big football fan )

You're not aware because they CAN'T come out! That's the point. Its too damaging. Homophobia in action.

I'm sure there is racism in football also. I do see racism and homophobia as related though as both are about discriminating against entire classes of people.

You're not aware because they CAN'T come out! That's the point. Its too damaging. Homophobia in action.

but then how do you know they are gay in the first place? , being Gay isnt a satistic ... just because there is an X number of players, doesnt mean X number of people have to be gay ?

i have a few gay friends here in the uk , and none are really interested in football and never have been .. could it be most footballers are in fact straight and dont have the gay gene? but then how do we know?

IMHO , i dont think a footballer would suffer much these days if he came out? , why would he? , i dont see any hate against gays these days on the streets, just seems to be something people can use against people , like ' you only fired me cos i am black '

You're not aware because they CAN'T come out! That's the point. Its too damaging. Homophobia in action.

I think you may be a tad misplaced with that comment JT. My guess is there are few playing at the top level who would warrant publicity.

Of those who are they simply don't want the attention. I doubt football is an attraction to the more colourful amongst the gay community. Perhaps partners as such but not the player himself.

The other motivation is money of course and what need they have to make an issue of it. I doubt it is even discussed. Most players are doing a job these days same as anyone else.

We have laws protecting people from this kind of thing in the UK and it does extend to football players. What happened to Justin Fashanu was not simply down to him being homosexual.

You wouldn't know if there are top gay players or not because top players or not, they cannot come out. At the very least at games there would be vicious anti-gay chants from the opposition supporters. Don't act like you don't know.

You wouldn't know if there are top gay players or not because top players or not, they cannot come out. At the very least at games there would be vicious anti-gay chants from the opposition supporters. Don't act like you don't know.

OMG that is Soooo not true !

but what if , in fact, no top player is Gay? ... most are good looking young, fit men, lots of money, and can have ANY female they want !, why would they even need to consider being gay !

You wouldn't know if there are top gay players or not because top players or not, they cannot come out. At the very least at games there would be vicious anti-gay chants from the opposition supporters. Don't act like you don't know.

That is utter nonsense JT. The UK has moved on a long way from those days. Such would be from a minority of fans and would be viewed very badly by the clubs themselves likely leading to stadium bans and even prosecution these days.

You wouldn't know if there are top gay players or not because top players or not, they cannot come out. At the very least at games there would be vicious anti-gay chants from the opposition supporters. Don't act like you don't know.

That is utter nonsense JT. The UK has moved on a long way from those days. Such would be from a minority of fans and would be viewed very badly by the clubs themselves likely leading to stadium bans and even prosecution these days.

exactly

You wouldn't know if there are top gay players or not because top players or not, they cannot come out. At the very least at games there would be vicious anti-gay chants from the opposition supporters. Don't act like you don't know.

so is the future king of England Gay, or The MP , or The President of America? - Who knowes? , but more importantly , who cares?, as if they where .. its their business and doesnt make people think any other way about them

Flawed premise from the outset.

I seriously doubt that 9/10 English football fans have ever read a book let alone heard of Kipling or Christie..

as for the gay stuff, I think it's the locker room dynamic that stop players coming out more than the fans. Read what that Welsh Rugby player said after he came out.

then again, if you are sexually excited by fit naked young men then you would have trouble not standing out in the locker room would you not?

Flawed premise from the outset.

I seriously doubt that 9/10 English football fans have ever read a book let alone heard of Kipling or Christie..

as for the gay stuff, I think it's the locker room dynamic that stop players coming out more than the fans. Read what that Welsh Rugby player said after he came out.

then again, if you are sexually excited by fit naked young men then you would have trouble not standing out in the locker room would you not?

In Kipling's day, we were all racist. Britain ruled a large chunk of the world, and not surprisingly, thought itself superior to everybody else. I suspect that feeling still lurks; two or three generations is not enough to quell it. What it may do is make some people go in the opposite direction, i.e. over-react to racism.

Yes, necronx, locker room dynamic is much more significant here than homophobia as such. If one player, and only one, sports an obvious erection, he's going to be joshed for it. The last time I was in that sort of locker room situation was at school, where twenty or thirty boys in their late teens showered in one room, completely naked. You were more likely to be laughed at if you didn't have an erection!

Flawed premise from the outset.

I seriously doubt that 9/10 English football fans have ever read a book let alone heard of Kipling or Christie..

as for the gay stuff, I think it's the locker room dynamic that stop players coming out more than the fans. Read what that Welsh Rugby player said after he came out.

then again, if you are sexually excited by fit naked young men then you would have trouble not standing out in the locker room would you not?

In Kipling's day, we were all racist. Britain ruled a large chunk of the world, and not surprisingly, thought itself superior to everybody else. I suspect that feeling still lurks; two or three generations is not enough to quell it. What it may do is make some people go in the opposite direction, i.e. over-react to racism.

Yes, necronx, locker room dynamic is much more significant here than homophobia as such. If one player, and only one, sports an obvious erection, he's going to be joshed for it. The last time I was in that sort of locker room situation was at school, where twenty or thirty boys in their late teens showered in one room, completely naked. You were more likely to be laughed at if you didn't have an erection!

I remember one kid commenting to me that one of the others had a tiny penis. He then went on to comment on mine. It had honestly never occurred to me to be checking out the competition.

most are good looking young, fit men, lots of money, and can have ANY female they want !, why would they even need to consider being gay !

I do sincerely hope that this comment is written in irony. It's not often that anything I read has me spluttering into my coffee.

And if not in irony, then this is one of the most ignorant, ill-informed comments I've read in a long time.

most are good looking young, fit men, lots of money, and can have ANY female they want !, why would they even need to consider being gay !

I do sincerely hope that this comment is written in irony. It's not often that anything I read has me spluttering into my coffee.

And if not in irony, then this is one of the most ignorant, ill-informed comments I've read in a long time.

Its a clear case for reading more comments from individual posters before passing judgement on their meaning!

Flawed premise from the outset.

I seriously doubt that 9/10 English football fans have ever read a book let alone heard of Kipling or Christie..

as for the gay stuff, I think it's the locker room dynamic that stop players coming out more than the fans. Read what that Welsh Rugby player said after he came out.

then again, if you are sexually excited by fit naked young men then you would have trouble not standing out in the locker room would you not?

In Kipling's day, we were all racist. Britain ruled a large chunk of the world, and not surprisingly, thought itself superior to everybody else. I suspect that feeling still lurks; two or three generations is not enough to quell it. What it may do is make some people go in the opposite direction, i.e. over-react to racism.

Yes, necronx, locker room dynamic is much more significant here than homophobia as such. If one player, and only one, sports an obvious erection, he's going to be joshed for it. The last time I was in that sort of locker room situation was at school, where twenty or thirty boys in their late teens showered in one room, completely naked. You were more likely to be laughed at if you didn't have an erection!

I remember one kid commenting to me that one of the others had a tiny penis. He then went on to comment on mine. It had honestly never occurred to me to be checking out the competition.

So how did he rate you? Scarred for life?

Flawed premise from the outset.

I seriously doubt that 9/10 English football fans have ever read a book let alone heard of Kipling or Christie..

I wonder if any of the gay footballers are at all racist? Or are they magically exempt somehow?

most are good looking young, fit men, lots of money, and can have ANY female they want !, why would they even need to consider being gay !

I do sincerely hope that this comment is written in irony. It's not often that anything I read has me spluttering into my coffee.

And if not in irony, then this is one of the most ignorant, ill-informed comments I've read in a long time.

Its a clear case for reading more comments from individual posters before passing judgement on their meaning!

correct ! also if you had quoted the WHOLE post, it would make more sense

Flawed premise from the outset.

I seriously doubt that 9/10 English football fans have ever read a book let alone heard of Kipling or Christie..

as for the gay stuff, I think it's the locker room dynamic that stop players coming out more than the fans. Read what that Welsh Rugby player said after he came out.

then again, if you are sexually excited by fit naked young men then you would have trouble not standing out in the locker room would you not?

In Kipling's day, we were all racist. Britain ruled a large chunk of the world, and not surprisingly, thought itself superior to everybody else. I suspect that feeling still lurks; two or three generations is not enough to quell it. What it may do is make some people go in the opposite direction, i.e. over-react to racism.

Yes, necronx, locker room dynamic is much more significant here than homophobia as such. If one player, and only one, sports an obvious erection, he's going to be joshed for it. The last time I was in that sort of locker room situation was at school, where twenty or thirty boys in their late teens showered in one room, completely naked. You were more likely to be laughed at if you didn't have an erection!

I remember one kid commenting to me that one of the others had a tiny penis. He then went on to comment on mine. It had honestly never occurred to me to be checking out the competition.

So how did he rate you? Scarred for life?

I got the

I wonder if any of the gay footballers are at all racist? Or are they magically exempt somehow?

The only openly gay football player we've ever had in England was black.

I wonder if any of the gay footballers are at all racist? Or are they magically exempt somehow?

The only open gay football player we've ever had in England was black.

His was a very sad story. I believe his own brother refused to speak to him after he came out. All very unfortunate.

Can only say if another footballer does decide to speak out on this issue that the outcome is much more favourable for both the player and the game itself.

I wonder if any of the gay footballers are at all racist? Or are they magically exempt somehow?

The only open gay football player we've ever had in England was black.

His was a very sad story. I believe his own brother refused to speak to him after he came out. All very unfortunate.

Can only say if another footballer does decide to speak out on this issue that the outcome is much more favourable for both the player and the game itself.

His brother publicly disowned him after he came out.