Racism becoming a theme of the season

In the same week as two of Stephen Lawrence's murderers were finally brought to justice 18 years after he was stabbed to death in a racially motivated attack in south-east London, football terraces, often misinterpreted as barometers of wider public opinion, have brought us further shame. Oldham's Tom Adeyemi is the latest to suffer racist abuse — in an FA Cup game with Liverpool at Anfield last Friday — in what has quickly become an unwanted theme this season. The incident couldn't have come at a worse time for Liverpool after their Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez was slapped with an eight-match ban and a £40,000 (Dh226,645) fine for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra. On-off England captain John Terry also faces a ban of up to 12 matches if he's found guilty of racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand. Meanwhile, black managers are bemoaning a lack of opportunities, Stan Collymore has been racially abused on Twitter and Fifa President Sepp Blatter has insisted everyone should just shake hands. Not since bananas were thrown at John Barnes in 1988 have we seen such hatred — and the one unifying factor between then and now, a possible reason for this throwback to the bad old days, is the economic climate in the UK — but ‘hard times' should never stand as an excuse. Clubs, police and the authorities are being as soft, if not softer, on the issue now, as they were back then. Life bans Supposed role models should be slapped with life bans if found guilty of racism, as should supporters caught slinging racist obscenities. But instead you have portions of the community shamefully standing up for offenders. Football is so powerful that attitudes on the pitch influence the wider community. From jibes to murder — there could just be just a few short steps. If the UK has recovered from the Lawrence murder then why was Indian student Anuj Bidve gunned down on Boxing Day in Salford? And if football is a unifying factor, why isn't it being used as more of a focus point for greater change in matters of basic respect?