Those who followed the Union of European Football Associations Euro Cup this past summer, a soccer championship among the European nations, might have noticed something interesting. Along the sidelines that rotated between advertisements for different sponsors, occasionally there popped up a message that said “Respect” or “Unite Against Racism.” In the playoff matches, just before kickoff, the team captains would also deliver a short message, usually in their native tongues, which basically translated to, “Football can bring us all together, and both inside and outside the stadium, we should respect each other regardless of race, religion and creed.”
Something suddenly got me thinking: imagine if we could do similar things at our beloved Alabama football games, and the impact it would have. Alabama football, I believe, can bring us all together, regardless of who we are — maybe with the exception of the Iron Bowl. If there’s one place that ought to encourage respect and appreciation of our nation’s cultural diversity, it might as well be in Bryant-Denny Stadium. A lot of our town’s heroes — the running backs, quarterbacks, other players and of course Coach Saban — have already sought to promote a lot of worthy causes, from efforts to resolve our state’s literacy issue to rebuilding the communities that were devastated by the April 2011 tornadoes. Surely before kickoff, our players or the coach can say a few words about why we should unite against racism, can’t they? And our sideline scoreboards, the same ones that flash statistics about other games and display ads, could just as easily flash the “Respect” or “Say no to racism” message regularly throughout the game.
It is admirable to watch all those European team captains, even those from countries that have strong pasts of injustice towards specific groups of people, help spread the message of intolerance for racism, carrying their countries forward. Likewise, Alabama has come a long way on all fronts. Why not set an example in this arena as well? The University of Alabama can take the lead in this. A short five minutes spent reflecting on those basic values that make our nation great, to meet and greet everyone, to treat everyone with the same respect, and to appreciate the cultural diversity of our nation, can make the experience of going to a football game enriching, as well as entertaining, for our 100,000 plus fans.
Neil Chakraborti is a Honors College sophomore in the College of Commerce and Business Administration.
