Racism on the field -- what do you do?

It has happened on my field a couple of times, both times the game was suspended and the parents were addressed by me or the coach. Once that was taken care of the game was resumed. As for the players, it happened a few times. Each time it was the end of their game.

I do have another question that is related. How do you deal with the N word when it's being used by African-American players to other African-American players, including teammates.

 

"If I can't use it, you can't use it. I grew up in Chicago, I know it is normal, but if I won't let them [other people] use it I can't have you use it."

 

I sent a U19B player off 10 seconds before blowing for FT at an MRL weekend last month. He was jawing back and forth with the opposing midfielder about how slowly the ball was being found in the weeds. I had 10 seconds to go on my announced stoppage and even had the whistle to my mouth when he told the opposing player of Asian descent loudly "Oh shut up, Moana."
Kid just shrugged his shoulders when I showed the red and blew for full time. Coach didn't hear it but told me to make sure I write it up word for word and "hopefully he'll learn a lesson from it." Was told by teammates that wasn't the first incident of the day, either- sucks I didn't hear it earlier.

Fast forward to the following day, same coach comes up and says I was wrong with my write up and nothing was racist or sexist about it, and that it was just a case of being "too politically correct."

 

You're right to be thinking ahead of time about what you'd do, because when it does happen, you want to be clear and in control. Unfortunately I've had to do the first two of these things in important matches.

From a player (you can identify): instant stoppage, red card and sendoff; if the team has a coach, once the player is off, explain to the coach, so they can manage internally accordingly.

From a spectator: instant stoppage, go to coach (or both if you can't identify which team etc.), explain what you've heard, say that the spectator(s) need(s) to be removed for the game to continue.

From a player (you can't identify): instant stoppage, do your best to identify the player(s) involved, bring them together with the coach(es), say what you heard, and have them help you resolve, being clear that someone is being sent off - generally in the form of "I believe it's #25, but if I'm wrong, someone can tell me now." [This is the scenario I haven't had, and I'm definitely interested in better solutions, noting that I don't consider "nobody will do it again" a better solution.]

 

Haven't had it come up yet, but I suppose this is another nicety of HS rules – if you can't identify who in the bench area made an OFFINABUS remark, you can toss the coach.

As for the OP, these situations always fall into YHTBT territory, but I'm thinking for players, generally an easy red, and for spectators, either somebody goes to the parking lot or else everybody goes to the parking lot.

A tougher variation of the problem comes when you don't hear it directly but the players tell you it's happening. We had an otherwise uneventful HS girls playoff game almost blow up in the final minutes the other night because a player said she heard the N-word from some little kid in the stands.

 

We had an incident at a high school game where the referee was told to go back to where he came from. In this case, where he came from was a small town near here, where the referee taught in the high school.

The head coach wanted us to write it up because he wanted to be able to take it to the AD. I don't know what, if anything ultimately happened.

 

My problem is I don't speak Spanish, and apparently, I miss some cussing and a few racial slurs because of this. Not sure what I can do. I get a lot of "he said, she said" and hearsay.

 

Worst thing I've had to deal with was unfortunately not heard by anyone on the crew (I was an AR). A player from the team made up of mostly Bosniaks accused an opponent of calling him a Serb. If I'd heard it, I'd have suggested red immediately. I have no doubt it happened as described. Dude was pissed. Only question was whether the other guy would have known just how offensive he was being, but I quickly decided it didn't matter. Regardless, the ref didn't feel it was appropriate to issue misconduct without corroboration, which I can't disagree with. Ugly situation all around.

 

Is that an insult? (Posing a serious question) We have a local team with some Bosnians. This could be useful information for me when I work games with them.

 

Yeah, there was a bit of a genocide in the mid-1990s. Read about the Bosnian War for more information.

 

I was a young kid around that time. Thanks for the info

 

Of course just seeing the link I knew it would be a story about a team from Waukegan. These kids are facing stuff not much different from the generations that have preceded them coming out of there. Good on the coach for teaching them how to rise above it and beat them with class.

As for what can be done as a referee?

As others have noted - for explicit racist comments, you send them off immediately.

If it comes from the crowd / parents, you suspend the match and don't restart until the person is removed.

If it's more borderline stuff that could be more reflective of a lack of cultural awareness, then you need to use the tools in your toolbox to ascertain the meaning and context, how public it was, and how it's going to impact the match.

 

This is second hand:
Sloppy, low-skill HS Girls game, the kind where players swing and miss and just run into each other. One team keeps running into the other and eventually two YCs are shown. After the game, that teams coach talks to the ref expressing frustration and displeasure. Eventually he says," Don't you think it is racist that the only two cards you showed were to my black players." Referee is flabbergasted, and just walks away.

Tough to deal with in the moment, if it happpended to me I would.....

 

This caused me to think of what I would do given this circumstance.

I've had coaches accuse my team of favoritism (cheating), "Okay girls, we're playing against two teams out there!" Our unanimous team response was instant dismissal of the coach. As in... both ARs had their flags up and the center agreed.

I'm pretty much convinced this is worse and I would react by a dismissal, or the post-match equivalent. I am cognizant of the storm that could result if such an accusation took hold in the press and that ignoring him reduces the chance of it escalating. Would I ignore such an egregious accusation just to avoid getting pilloried by the press? I really hope I wouldn't.

 

first, this was hearsay. No one commenting was present.
second, I would suggest that if this is not worse than calling you a cheat and not worthy of a dismissal. If it were to happen, you should take a deep breath, and like the ref in the OP, just walk away. Then, in a moment of quiet reflection, consider whether it might be possible that you were guilty of unconscious bias.

 

I have encountered things like this several times from players at a variety of levels.

One was a DA player who claimed that I was only booking him b/c he was black. I let it go as the kid was emotionally immature and addressed it afterwards with his coach who I knew very well. The sad thing was that he was a very talented and skilled player who was carrying some baggage that caused him to take foul calls as persecution.

I also had a guy call from the Caucuses call me a racist and spit at me for booking him in a coed game. That resulted in a send off and season suspension for the guy.

One thing that referees do have to be careful of is verbal and non-verbal cues and how they are perceived.

Calling older players "boys" can be perceived by some as racist or demeaning by some.

Waiving at players to get up can also be construed in a negative light by some.

 

Couldn't disagree more. The only appropriate response is to dismiss the coach.
"The cautions were given to the players that committed reckless fouls. Accusing me of racism is not acceptable behavior, and the match report will show that you have been dismissed."

 

And how are you going to dismiss him if it is after the game and in a one on one conversation that you allowed to start?

Certainly feel free to report the accusation to the competition authorities, but unless the coach is publicly screaming at you and making a scene, just tell the coach the conversation is over and walk away.

 

The "give him a green card" line by the goal keeper needs to be a red card. Period.

If you hear that, you have to act. No place for that.

I had a parent in a high school game yell that after I booked a player.

I stopped play and told the coach and AD on site to get that guy out of there. Told me them that anymore comments like that from anyone else and I'm either abandoning the game or telling them to clear the stands. All spectators to go home.

 

I don't know if this point has ever been brought up on this forum - but it's along the same lines and wanted to know others thoughts on it:

When you're doing a girls match and the coach says something to you along the lines of "would you call that in a boys game?". I've had a few local referees throw the opinion out there that it is a sexist comment and we should address it as such. But I wanted to know others thoughts.

 

"No I wouldn't coach, because boys don't throw booty checks like that."

 

That it was hearsay in the described instance has nothing to do with me speculating about what I would do. Playing this what-if game helps me avoid being reactionary and being baited into rash actions if and when it happens.

I categorically reject that this is less serious than calling me a cheat. I daresay it's more serious because it is implying I'm willing to cheat specifically because of the player's race!

Alas, there would be no quiet reflection and I hope and pray I would have no hesitation either. The league and USSF both would have their detailed report, word-for-word, as to what was said.

 

Simple. "You're dismissed". You have that authority until you leave the field and it's immediate surroundings. Nothing in Jayhonk's post suggested the referee initiated the conversation.

 

I've heard this one before. My recommendation...

If you're tempted to use this as an attempt to discuss the fine details of center-of-gravity and social differences between the boys game and the girls game I urge you to resist it. This coach is trying to bait you into any admission that you might possibly call the boys game differently than the girls. We, of course, already know that we must handle the two slightly differently but that is not the moment to discuss it.

How is this different than the race question?

In the boys-vs-girls statement, I am being asked if I call two [disconnected] matches differently. Not an accusation in itself but a it is a logic trap that may become an accusation. There is still time to short circuit that outcome if handled properly.

In the race statement, I am being accused of favoring one set of players or a team. Definitely an accusation.