Let's talk about "The Dark Side of American Soccer Culture"

I'm referencing this article by former Grantland guy Jay Caspian Kang

LINK

Basically, Kang went to a Sounders match and didn't like what he saw, and then writes about racism in other soccer cultures and how that influences America.

An excerpt:

quote:

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There are now two separate American soccer cultures: one white, the other Latino. And while some of the Europhilia can be attributed to the relative newness of American soccer fandom (traditions, I suppose, have to start somewhere), it’s worth asking why soccer fans in a country with millions of immigrants from soccer-crazed countries in Central and South America would look so longingly toward Western Europe, or why the American media’s coverage of soccer culture, however scant, focuses on soccer bars in gentrified Brooklyn and fan organizations in majority-white cities like Portland, Ore., and Seattle.

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Another gem:

quote:

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There is nothing wrong about borrowing what you love, but it should be called what it is — a dream of an ultimately monochromatic gathering in which thousands of white men can brawl (but safely and without guns!) in the streets and drunkenly sing Phil Collins melodies in pubs, lending a hooligan snarl to a white, suburban culture.

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I've not been to a single MLS match, but as a writer, I found this piece to be a crock of shite. There's a lot of inferring and projecting and very little research, interviewing, or actual leg work.

I enjoyed Don Garber's response:

quote:

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“Like unfortunately things can be with the media, it was poorly reported, factually incorrect and irresponsible, with a lack of any research whatsoever,” Garber said. “Frankly, something like this should never see the light of day…” “This was not some blog. This was The New York Times. They know better,” Garber said. “What empowers me is to see the guy getting scorched in social media, because this is just not representative of good journalism.”

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Honestly, there may be a racial issue in American soccer fandom. I don't know. I don't think there is, any more than there's a racial problem in general in America, and I actually think American soccer has less of a racial problem than, say, SEC football fandom.

I know on this board there's a lot of Mexico hate, but I don't know if that's racial as much as it's just because they're our rival.

And to me, this article undermines any argument of racism in American soccer fandom because it starts from that point and never deviates, never considers anything else.

FYI: Other Jay Caspian Kang titles include

"The Unbearable Whiteness of Baseball"
"White Reporter Privilege"
"Serial and the White Liberal Media's Race Problem"

His Twitter mentions are pretty funny. I'd love to hear from some non white dudes on what they think of this, but I imagine mostly everyone who posts here is a white dude.