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This has a bit in Other Cricket but probably deserves its own thread now. Azeem Rafiq has appeared in front of a parliamentary select committee, and is not holding back.
There’s some quite damning accusations in here against a number of ex England players. I’m sure there is truth in some of this but his ethnicity aside, I am also forming the view that he might be a bit of a prick. What I don’t know is if this is because of the racism he suffered, or in spite of.
From the BBC:
English cricket is "institutionally" racist, says former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq. Rafiq, 30, told a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee that racist language was "constantly" used during his time at Yorkshire. In an emotional testimony, he also said the club gave him "inhuman" treatment after his son was still-born in 2017. He added the issues he faced at Yorkshire are "without a shadow of a doubt" widespread in domestic cricket. Reaction & all the evidence: Rafiq appears before MPs Rafiq said he had lost his career to racism, which is a "horrible feeling" but that "hopefully" by speaking out there will be "massive change in five years' time". "All I wanted was an acceptance, an apology, an understanding, and let's try and work together to ensure it never happens again," he continued. "I was not going to let this go, no matter how much damage it causes me - I was determined to become a voice for the voiceless." In wide-ranging testimony, Rafiq also said: All he ever wanted to do was realise his "dream" of playing for England Racist language, including terms aimed at his and others' Pakistani heritage, was used "constantly" and "never stamped out" during his time at Yorkshire The use of such terms was racist and not "banter" as the report had concluded It left him feeling "isolated" and "humiliated", with racist comments made by others in front of team-mates and coaching staff but not challenged The use of such language was so common it "became the norm" and people at the club "didn't think it was wrong" He "didn't realise" and was "in denial" about the scale of the problem during most of his first spell at Yorkshire, up until 2014 He thought "things had changed" when he returned for his second spell in 2016 But the atmosphere became "toxic" after Gary Ballance took over as captain later that year, shortly after former batter Andrew Gale replaced Jason Gillespie as head coach Aged 15 and a practising Muslim, he was pinned down by a senior player at his local cricket club and red wine was poured into his mouth He said he did not drink alcohol again until "around 2012" when he felt he had to "to fit in" at Yorkshire He said he "wasn't perfect" and was "not proud" of some of the things he did and said while drinking, but these have "no relation" to the racism he was subjected to The report into his allegations was "shoddy at best" and the panel failed to speak to key witnesses Scale of racism in cricket is 'scary' Rafiq was giving evidence to MPs after a report found he was a victim of "racial harassment and bullying" but the club said they would not discipline anyone. Yorkshire's former chairman Roger Hutton subsequently addressed the committee, followed by representatives from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), including chief executive Tom Harrison. Hutton, who offered his "profound apologies" to Rafiq, said Yorkshire's director of cricket Martyn Moxon and former chief executive Mark Arthur "failed to accept the gravity of the situation". "They have not wanted to apologise or take the recommendations of the panel going forward," he added. When asked by Damian Green MP if he thought cricket was institutionally racist, Rafiq replied: "Yes, I do." In response to a question by Julian Knight MP, chair of the DCMS select committee, on whether the issues he faced were "replicated" at other counties, Rafiq said: "It's a problem up and down the country." Former Yorkshire academy players Irfan Amjad and Tabassum Bhatti have alleged they received racist abuse while at the club. Essex are facing racism allegations and encouraging those that have experienced discrimination to come forward. Last week Essex chairman John Faragher resigned following an allegation he used racist language in a 2017 board meeting, which he denies. Former Essex players Zoheb Sharif and Maurice Chambers have both alleged they suffered racist abuse at the club. Rafiq said the scale of the problem is "scary" and there have been "denials, briefings, cover-ups, smearing". He claimed that British Asian representation in professional cricket since 2010 dropped nearly 40% and that England have missed out on "a hell of a lot of talent" because Asian and black cricketers have been subjected to racism. Rafiq also called on the ECB "to make tangible change". Anti-racism and anti-fascism campaign group Hope not Hate chief executive Nick Lowles said Rafiq's testimony was "heartbreaking" to watch. "What is most troubling is that what Azeem Rafiq has experienced is not an isolated incident, in cricket or across sport more generally. "Azeem Rafiq's bravery in speaking out against those who abused him needs to be a turning point - this is an opportunity to stand in solidarity with Azeem and run racism out of sport, once and for all". Yorkshire chairman Lord Patel said it was an "incredibly difficult day" for all at the club and that Rafiq's testimony was "harrowing and upsetting". He added: "There is no quick fix to the clear problems which have been identified, and the issues are complex, not least the charge of institutional racism which must be addressed head on." 'It sounds like the Wild West' - MP Julie Elliott on ECB regulatory process 'Inhuman' treatment after son's death Rafiq said he was subjected to "inhuman" treatment after the death of his son, because the club were "blinded" to how they should treat him after he raised a complaint about former England player Tim Bresnan in 2017. Rafiq said that the day after his son died, Moxon "ripped shreds" off him in a manner he had never seen Moxon address anyone else at the club. He said he was part of a group of "six or seven" players who complained about Bresnan, who now plays for Warwickshire, after which he said the club saw him as a "trouble-maker". He added he was the only player of colour in that group and was "the only one to get repercussions". Rafiq added that head coach Gale's attitude towards the death of Rafiq's son was that Rafiq was "making it more than what it is" and that "hardly anyone" asked after his and his wife's wellbeing. At the end of his session, Rafiq said his wife "has struggled and still continues" to and that his two young children "have not had a dad, really, because all I have been worried about is Yorkshire going out to discredit me and how I am going to deal with it". He added: "It has been challenging, but I hope today provides some sort of closure and I can treat her for what she deserves". Warwickshire said the report includes allegations of bullying against Rafiq by Bresnan regarding comments Bresnan made about Rafiq's weight. They said: "We have spoken to Tim about this and he admits making such a comment. We understand there was no substantiated suggestion of racism against Tim, but he is devastated to learn of the impact of his comments." Bresnan responded in a statement, stating: "I have been made aware of the bullying claims made against me and have listened to Azeem Rafiq's account of his time at Yorkshire CCC today with great distress, as I'm sure everyone will have done. "For any part I played in contributing to Azeem Rafiq's experience of feeling bullied at Yorkshire, I apologise unreservedly." Gale is currently suspended as part of an investigation into a tweet he sent in 2010. Moxon is currently absent from work because of a "stress-related illness" and Yorkshire said he "will be given the necessary support". BBC Sport is approaching Gale for comment. Ballance behaviour 'disgusting' Yorkshire batter Ballance, who played 23 Tests for England, said earlier this month he "regrets" using racist language towards Rafiq, who he regarded as his "best mate in cricket". Rafiq said he became friends with Zimbabwe-born Ballance when he joined Yorkshire from Derbyshire in 2008 because he felt he was an "outsider" as well and that others called Ballance "things that were out of order". But he added their relationship "started to deteriorate" around 2013 because of Ballance's "conduct" and that his "behaviour was so disgusting" Rafiq raised it with an agent they shared. Rafiq said they remained "amicable" but not close afterwards and that Ballance found the captaincy a "real struggle" in 2017, resulting in a "toxic" dressing room. He added that Ballance used the name 'Kevin' as a "derogatory" term to refer to any player of colour and this was an "open secret", including within the England dressing room. Rafiq said that England batter Alex Hales named his dog Kevin "because it's black". "It's disgusting how much of a joke it was," said Rafiq. He added that India batter Cheteshwar Pujara was called 'Steve' by coaches, players and the Yorkshire website after bowler Jack Brooks, who now plays for Somerset, started calling Pujara that because he could not pronounce his first name. Pujara said he did not like being called Steve and would prefer his team-mates to call him Cheteshwar. BBC Sport is approaching Hales and Brooks for comment. Somerset said they "take a zero-tolerance approach to any form of behaviour which is anything other than inclusive for all, regardless of gender, race, sexuality or any other characteristic." They added: "Any case reported will be thoroughly investigated as it is important that we learn lessons from the past and we welcome any information on incidents that may have occurred to help us do so." More on Ballance's previous response to this story Rafiq's response to other Yorkshire figures Rafiq alleges former England captain and BBC cricket pundit Michael Vaughan said "too many of you lot, we need to do something about it" to him and three other Asian players in 2009 while they were all at Yorkshire. England bowler Adil Rashid and former Pakistan bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan have corroborated the allegation, which Vaughan "completely and categorically denies". "It's important on Michael that we don't make it all about Michael," said Rafiq. "It was a long time ago. He might not remember it because it doesn't mean anything to him." England Test captain Joe Root said the Yorkshire racism scandal has "fractured our game and torn lives apart" but that he could not recall any instance of racism during his time at the club. Rafiq said Root has never used racist language but he found his statement "hurtful" because Root was Ballance's housemate and was on nights out when racist language directed at his Pakistan heritage was used. "Joe might not remember it but that shows just how normal it was - even a good man like him can't see it for what it is," he said. "The environment and institution is the problem." Rafiq said that following an interview on Sky, former England bowler and Yorkshire team-mate Matthew Hoggard called him and said 'I am sorry if some of the comments made you feel how you described it'. Rafiq said he thanked Hoggard for his apology and really appreciated it. BBC Sport is approaching Hoggard for comment. Rafiq also said that Sky Sports commentator David Lloyd, a former Lancashire captain and England player and later coach, had made disparaging comments about Asian cricketers after Rafiq spoke about his experiences on television. He said there were "high-profile" media people "messaging other members of the media who have supported me, saying stuff like: 'Well, a clubhouse is the lifeblood of a club, and Asian players don't go in there.'" Rafiq subsequently identified that person as Lloyd. In response, Lloyd said he had "made some comments about the Asian cricket community" and that he "deeply regrets" his actions. "I apologise most sincerely to Azeem and to the Asian community for doing this, and for any offence caused," he added. Sky said in a statement it was "investigating the comments" attributed to Lloyd and that it was "committed to actively championing inclusion in cricket - and in all sports - and opposing all forms of discrimination". Rafiq first spoke out last year, claiming "institutional racism" at Yorkshire left him close to taking his own life. Seven of the 43 allegations were upheld by an independent panel last month and the report found he had been a victim of "racial harassment and bullying" at the club. However, Yorkshire said they will not take disciplinary action against any player, employee or executive. Hutton and Arthur have subsequently resigned, with Hutton's replacement as chairman, Lord Patel, apologising "unreservedly" and settling the employment tribunal with Rafiq. Yorkshire have been suspended from hosting international matches by the ECB. Kit supplier Nike, plus several of Yorkshire's sponsors, including Emerald Publishing, Yorkshire Tea, Tetley's beer and leisure club operators David Lloyd, either ended partnerships or said they would not continue deals. BBC Sport is approaching Yorkshire for further comment in response to today's evidence. -
Comes as zero surprise to me.
My son is a member of a club and it’s got quite a few non whites in it. The kids mix and don’t see anything. But at the prize giving it was like a licorice all sort crowd. White parents here, brown parents there.
I will add tho, that it cut both ways.
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H Hooroo moved this topic from Sports Talk on
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@sparky said in Racism in England Cricket:
I struggle to see how Yorkshire Cricket Club and the ECB in their current form can survive this. A dreadful lack of duty of care towards their players.
I'm not surprised.
I would say, though, it's not just racism, it's also clique-behaviour in teams. If you're not 'in', you're 'out'. And if yuo're 'out', then you're fair game for shitty racist banter disguised as jokes. And - if you speak up against it, you'll threaten your 'in' status... hence Root saying 'I didn't see anything'
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@sparky said in Racism in England Cricket:
I struggle to see how Yorkshire Cricket Club and the ECB in their current form can survive this. A dreadful lack of duty of care towards their players.
Couldn't quite believe what I was hearing. Banter is one thing but this sounded a bit like the stuff you'd hear at a BNP rally. And yet the YCC & their senior players let it go on.
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@majorrage said in Racism in England Cricket:
Comes as zero surprise to me.
My son is a member of a club and it’s got quite a few non whites in it. The kids mix and don’t see anything. But at the prize giving it was like a licorice all sort crowd. White parents here, brown parents there.
I will add tho, that it cut both ways.
I’d venture to say some of what went on was a bit of a laugh….not all by ther sounds of it though.
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@victor-meldrew said in Racism in England Cricket:
@sparky said in Racism in England Cricket:
I struggle to see how Yorkshire Cricket Club and the ECB in their current form can survive this. A dreadful lack of duty of care towards their players.
Couldn't quite believe what I was hearing. Banter is one thing but this sounded a bit like the stuff you'd hear at a BNP rally. And yet the YCC & their senior players let it go on.
This is going to snowball and if it eradicates the highlighted institutional racism that Azeem Rafiq talks to, then great. I’m concerned though that as this gains media momentum, it will drag in innocent bystanders. There must be some high profile players absolute shitting themselves at the moment that a remark by someone, will drag them into it.
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@scribe said in Racism in England Cricket:
@victor-meldrew said in Racism in England Cricket:
@sparky said in Racism in England Cricket:
I struggle to see how Yorkshire Cricket Club and the ECB in their current form can survive this. A dreadful lack of duty of care towards their players.
Couldn't quite believe what I was hearing. Banter is one thing but this sounded a bit like the stuff you'd hear at a BNP rally. And yet the YCC & their senior players let it go on.
This is going to snowball and if it eradicates the highlighted institutional racism that Azeem Rafiq talks to, then great. I’m concerned though that as this gains media momentum, it will drag in innocent bystanders. There must be some high profile players absolute shitting themselves at the moment that a remark by someone, will drag them into it.
Yep. Needs to be handled with common sense and avoiding character assassination if it's to be fixed properly. Not holding out much hope if it does snowball.
At least we don't have the same problem with Asian players being abused at Football clubs...
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@victor-meldrew Australia must think all their Christmases have come at once. Wangle a T20 final (winning 6/7 tosses along the way), Warner hitting form and the ECB potentially getting f**ked over. All less than a month out from the Ashes starting.
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@majorrage said in Racism in England Cricket:
Comes as zero surprise to me.
My son is a member of a club and it’s got quite a few non whites in it. The kids mix and don’t see anything. But at the prize giving it was like a licorice all sort crowd. White parents here, brown parents there.
I will add tho, that it cut both ways.
This post wasn't really clear.
One thing that always irks me a bit is the idea that we are all the same and must be treated the same. Well, that's just not true. Everybody deserves equal opportunities and the same sense of justice / appreciation, but reality is that a lot of immigrant / immigrant descendant people in this country have fuck all in common with the British when it comes to socialising - which is a huge part of team Sport. Vaughn is really in the firing line, but I wonder if his point was perhaps about trying to talk about integration, and he crossed a line.
I'll try and explain this without coming across like a bigoted arsehole. I have a 7 and a 9 year old and there is a huge community feel to our school. And I won't lie, it's awesome. They made us feel really welcome, we have a large circle of friends because of it and it's very very diverse. We have camps, dinners, balls etc. Standard stuff. I would say in each year, there are 5 Pakistani / Muslim families. I get on well with them, often chatting at pick up, talking about all sorts. But here's the thing.
They never go to the camps. Ever. They never go to the balls. Ever. They never go to the charity events. Ever. Occasionally you'll get 1-2 at the dad meet ups, and they don't drink and usually go home early. None of this changes what I think of them, it's just a fact. I'll probably see a couple of drop off tomorrow and we'll talk about the cricket as well as other things. And it'll be nice.
But some lines are never ever crossed, and others rarely. I'm not sure that sort of spirit really works in a team-sport environment & i can see how that could create tension. It doesn't excuse crossing lines, never. But perhaps when comments such as England cricket is institutionally racist there is a bit more to it. I know the world is supposed to be one big friendly melting pot, especially Britain & the US. But almost all of the social problems of these 2 countries come from the fact that multi ethnicity integration has its drawbacks. This to me, just seems like another in an ever-growing list.
Doesn't make those making the comments right, not at all. But lets face it, cricket is a basically a piss up played by lads. You are either one of them, or you aren't.
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I can’t wait for Robert Croft to ‘come out’ because as a Welshman playing for England I’m pretty sure he was called everything under the sun.
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@majorrage said in Racism in England Cricket:
@majorrage said in Racism in England Cricket:
Comes as zero surprise to me.
My son is a member of a club and it’s got quite a few non whites in it. The kids mix and don’t see anything. But at the prize giving it was like a licorice all sort crowd. White parents here, brown parents there.
I will add tho, that it cut both ways.
This post wasn't really clear.
One thing that always irks me a bit is the idea that we are all the same and must be treated the same. Well, that's just not true. Everybody deserves equal opportunities and the same sense of justice / appreciation, but reality is that a lot of immigrant / immigrant descendant people in this country have fuck all in common with the British when it comes to socialising - which is a huge part of team Sport. Vaughn is really in the firing line, but I wonder if his point was perhaps about trying to talk about integration, and he crossed a line.
I'll try and explain this without coming across like a bigoted arsehole. I have a 7 and a 9 year old and there is a huge community feel to our school. And I won't lie, it's awesome. They made us feel really welcome, we have a large circle of friends because of it and it's very very diverse. We have camps, dinners, balls etc. Standard stuff. I would say in each year, there are 5 Pakistani / Muslim families. I get on well with them, often chatting at pick up, talking about all sorts. But here's the thing.
They never go to the camps. Ever. They never go to the balls. Ever. They never go to the charity events. Ever. Occasionally you'll get 1-2 at the dad meet ups, and they don't drink and usually go home early. None of this changes what I think of them, it's just a fact. I'll probably see a couple of drop off tomorrow and we'll talk about the cricket as well as other things. And it'll be nice.
But some lines are never ever crossed, and others rarely. I'm not sure that sort of spirit really works in a team-sport environment & i can see how that could create tension. It doesn't excuse crossing lines, never. But perhaps when comments such as England cricket is institutionally racist there is a bit more to it. I know the world is supposed to be one big friendly melting pot, especially Britain & the US. But almost all of the social problems of these 2 countries come from the fact that multi ethnicity integration has its drawbacks. This to me, just seems like another in an ever-growing list.
Doesn't make those making the comments right, not at all. But lets face it, cricket is a basically a piss up played by lads. You are either one of them, or you aren't.
You didn’t, but the problem is in the era of cancel culture you will to any SJW who wants to get on the bandwagon and encourage anyone to complain.
When I worked at telecom some printer toner cartridge went missing. It was brought up at a sales meeting. Someone joked that ‘Sione’ ( not his real name ) took it. He pretended to be outraged and said ‘it’s cos I’m black isn’t it?’ Genuine good hearted hilarity all round, laughing at each others differences etc. I know for a fact he never went home to cry about it, it was what it was, good fun. You had to have a thick skin in that environment. The accounts team hated us and all the yelling and banter that went round. We were extremely cautious so as not to offend them and get in trouble.
Not sure how much of what has gone on in the cricket examples was like what happened above or genuine racism. It seems a very murky line.
Moral of that story is to pick your audience.
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@mn5 Yeah, the overarching point I'm making though is that this is directly the Pakistan / Muslim community only.
British Indians, British Caribbean, Polish, South African ,Irish, Australian, American, Colombian all have significant representation (at least 2 families) and they get involved.
Honestly think a lot of it is drinking culture.
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@majorrage in a broadly similar situation , my son was playing football in the top football league (outside of football academies), in the South East. Excellent players but they finished towards the bottom of the comp. Half the team were white and the other half black. They all got on ok but there was no real team spirit; just 2 very distinct groups off the pitch that happened to play together. All of the parent volunteering and support of the team was provided by the parents of the white players (with one exception).
It made me sad that almost all of the black kids invariably had no family watching, supporting and encouraging them and sharing some of those special and proud moments we can have during childhood.
I know that there are probably a number of contributory reasons for this, but culture seems to play a massive part.
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@mn5 said in Racism in England Cricket:
@majorrage said in Racism in England Cricket:
@majorrage said in Racism in England Cricket:
Comes as zero surprise to me.
My son is a member of a club and it’s got quite a few non whites in it. The kids mix and don’t see anything. But at the prize giving it was like a licorice all sort crowd. White parents here, brown parents there.
I will add tho, that it cut both ways.
This post wasn't really clear.
One thing that always irks me a bit is the idea that we are all the same and must be treated the same. Well, that's just not true. Everybody deserves equal opportunities and the same sense of justice / appreciation, but reality is that a lot of immigrant / immigrant descendant people in this country have fuck all in common with the British when it comes to socialising - which is a huge part of team Sport. Vaughn is really in the firing line, but I wonder if his point was perhaps about trying to talk about integration, and he crossed a line.
I'll try and explain this without coming across like a bigoted arsehole. I have a 7 and a 9 year old and there is a huge community feel to our school. And I won't lie, it's awesome. They made us feel really welcome, we have a large circle of friends because of it and it's very very diverse. We have camps, dinners, balls etc. Standard stuff. I would say in each year, there are 5 Pakistani / Muslim families. I get on well with them, often chatting at pick up, talking about all sorts. But here's the thing.
They never go to the camps. Ever. They never go to the balls. Ever. They never go to the charity events. Ever. Occasionally you'll get 1-2 at the dad meet ups, and they don't drink and usually go home early. None of this changes what I think of them, it's just a fact. I'll probably see a couple of drop off tomorrow and we'll talk about the cricket as well as other things. And it'll be nice.
But some lines are never ever crossed, and others rarely. I'm not sure that sort of spirit really works in a team-sport environment & i can see how that could create tension. It doesn't excuse crossing lines, never. But perhaps when comments such as England cricket is institutionally racist there is a bit more to it. I know the world is supposed to be one big friendly melting pot, especially Britain & the US. But almost all of the social problems of these 2 countries come from the fact that multi ethnicity integration has its drawbacks. This to me, just seems like another in an ever-growing list.
Doesn't make those making the comments right, not at all. But lets face it, cricket is a basically a piss up played by lads. You are either one of them, or you aren't.
You didn’t, but the problem is in the era of cancel culture you will to any SJW who wants to get on the bandwagon and encourage anyone to complain.
When I worked at telecom some printer toner cartridge went missing. It was brought up at a sales meeting. Someone joked that ‘Sione’ ( not his real name ) took it. He pretended to be outraged and said ‘it’s cos I’m black isn’t it?’ Genuine good hearted hilarity all round, laughing at each others differences etc. I know for a fact he never went home to cry about it, it was what it was, good fun. You had to have a thick skin in that environment. The accounts team hated us and all the yelling and banter that went round. We were extremely cautious so as not to offend them and get in trouble.
Not sure how much of what has gone on in the cricket examples was like what happened above or genuine racism. It seems a very murky line.
Moral of that story is to pick your audience.
Maybe I'm the SJW you referring to, but I don't like this distinction.
There is a brilliant comment on the planet rugby version of this thread that sums up the issue very well. I am quoting it in full, by mabunch78.
The thing that I think a lot of people don't get about the type of 'banter' that's been cited is, whether deployed maliciously or not, it functions to control by isolating people and setting up their 'otherness'. To the hypothetical utterer, it's a casual, almost amusing quip, possibly intended to lighten the atmosphere and foster camaraderie - I'm sure this is likely the case if Vaughan happened to do so. But to the subject, I've no doubt it weighs much more heavily as a reinforcement of their apparently unwelcome otherness, and if they give even the slightest hint of not accepting it in the way intended, their otherness is made more apparent and they will be less accepted. So in other words, it functions as a passive-aggressive marker that traps, controls or subjugates the subject, whether intended or not.I am uncomfortable with you Sione story above, because it really does not have a place in work environment. Your intentions can be as pure as a very pure thing, but it has no place in a work or team environment.
There is no problem with risky jokes and dealing with harmful stereotypes is better than leaving them unsaid - but there is a time and place for them. At the pub with a very tight group where you are certain that joke will land as intended is fine. That little voice that tells you it might be an issue is actually telling you that the joke is adding toxicity to an environment.
I'll admit I've made the same kinda jokes (and far far worse), and I don't for second think my intentions or mindset was to hurt anyone, but that sort of behaviour is a problem regardless of the actual racism (whatever that word means anyway).
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@sidbarret said in Racism in England Cricket:
I am uncomfortable with you Sione story above, because it really does not have a place in work environment. Your intentions can be as pure as a very pure thing, but it has no place in a work or team environment.
So that you means you have a problem with Sione. As you'll note he was the one to bring race into it.
There is no problem with risky jokes and dealing with harmful stereotypes is better than leaving them unsaid - but there is a time and place for them. At the pub with a very tight group where you are certain that joke will land as intended is fine. That little voice that tells you it might be an issue is actually telling you that the joke is adding toxicity to an environment.
I don't think you meant it like this, but heads up that whether the joke in the pub is fine or not, is not your distinction to make.
I'll admit I've made the same kinda jokes (and far far worse), and I don't for second think my intentions or mindset was to hurt anyone, but that sort of behaviour is a problem regardless of the actual racism (whatever that word means anyway).
I am happy to agree to disagree here. The majority changing to suit the minority is not what's about. People always have the right to push the boundaries and occasionally offend if they cross the line. When that happens they then have the right to apologise as no intention to offend, or make a deal out of it and face the consequences. These are peoples' decisions.
Nobody has the right to get offended on other people's behalf & force consequences on them. Yes, they can point out it's not acceptable and expect an apology, but you shouldn't have to face sanctions if you crack a ill-timed joke in front of an SJW warrior who decided to get uppity.
Racism in England Cricket
