A role model
I am the most unlikely person to be writing about football or a footballer. I have only ever watched one football match in my life at the 2012 Olympics. Fortunately, I am not going to engage in any football critique.
Marcus caught my attention during Covid when he led a successful campaign to provide free school meals to vulnerable children during the holidays. As a Mancunian myself I was particularly interested in the work Marcus was doing and the challenges of child food poverty which are UK wide.
When I saw Marcus had written a book You Can Do It: How to Find Your Voice and Make a Difference I really wanted to read it. This is geared at children aged 9 to12 but it’s such a fantastic starter pack in inclusion and diversity that I would say it is good reading for anyone, at any age, looking to take steps towards making our world more inclusive.
I’m not going to do a full review, it’s a short book and I want to discuss what Marcus says about allyship.
What is allyship
Allyship is about supporting or being an ally, a friend to people who are from marginalised and discriminated against groups, when you are not part of that group. A marginalised person could have any of the 9 protected characteristics under the Equality Act:
- age
- disability
- gender reassignment
- marriage and civil partnership
- pregnancy and maternity
- race
- religion or belief
- sex
- sexual orientation
They could also be marginalised outside the Equality Act as it can take time for the law to catch up. Singling someone out because they are different is cruel. I was so horrified to see the significantly increased risks off suicide for LGBTQ+ communities. A large part of this increased risk is bullying and discrimination. Off the cuff comments that people make that are brushed off, seemingly the person is indifferent to them but they all add up. Everyday chipping away at self-worth and dignity.
There is no normal
Marcus explains how there is no normal. We are all different and Marcus gives the example of how he would adapt to meet his friend Jahedi’s different family customs and beliefs, like stepping through the front door with his right foot.
We’re all trying to do the same thing, we all just have different ways of doing it. Often it takes someone communicating with you about how they like to do things to help you understand them better. - Marcus Rashford, You Can Do It
Speaking up
Marcus talks about how you can ‘Find your Voice’ and speak up. These might be very small things that show solidarity but they are all part of championing our individuality and our differences.
Once you recognise that there is no such thing as normal, you can accept all of the little differences that make us unique and special … Being an ally is that extra bit of encouragement that helps people who need support carry on when things are dark. - Marcus Rashford, You Can Do It
The power of group conformity and group think can make it difficult sometimes to speak up. Everyone is waiting to see what will happen, will someone else speak up first, maybe it doesn’t matter? In the action points summary at the end of the chapter on ‘Celebrate and champion difference’ there are suggestions on how to be an ally. As a researcher I was so happy to see ‘listening’ in there. The first step in supporting someone is to really listen.
Direct experience of racism
Marcus has direct experience of racism and I am sure much more than he has shared. In his book he shares one of the highly publicised events was when he missed a penalty shoot-out in the world cup. He woke up the next day to a torrent of abuse, with someone even vandalising his portrait in Manchester. But after reaching a real low, things turned around because people from all over the UK went to the painting and left messages of support. All the messages covering up the vandalism are truly inspiring, so many more voices standing up for Marcus. That is allyship, that is support, that is exactly as it should be.
It's OK to speak up later
The only thing I would add to this is if you can’t say something in the moment that’s ok there are other things you can do. Not everyone can speak up in a group, it can be very difficult and everyone has their own personal background and experiences. You can let the person the comments were targeted at know later that the comments were inappropriate and that you support them. Just like people did at the painting of Marcus. You may not even be quite sure, sometimes micro-aggressions can be subtle. But you could say ‘I didn’t quite understand what so and so said but I think it was offensive.’ Or you could text or call someone at another time to show your support. Every little action and sign of support helps us to block out the bigotry.
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