Allegations of racism have been made against a senior coach working with Great Britain’s bobsleigh squad. The BBC obtained confidential documents in which several athletes anonymously expressed their concern to the chief executive of the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association (BBSA), Richard Parker about racism, bullying, sexism and discrimination from performance and management staff. The following month, they were told that no disciplinary action would be taken since no formal complaints were made.
Previously, in 2014, Henry Nwume, a former Team GB member wrote to the then chairman of the BBSA, Sir Andrew Ridgeway complaining of racist comments made to his colleagues. However, Ridgeway claims the allegations were immediately dealt with and that he was unaware of repetition of the negative behavior. However, it is obvious that the issue has raised its ugly head yet again.
I was disheartened to not that the scandal has been reported in a manner that almost suggests that this incident is an unfortunate one-off event. However, incidents like these are not unusual. Racism is indeed a serious problem in the UK which must be dealt with urgently. In fact, it should be obvious that racial tensions have been bubbling under the surface since it has been widely-reported that there have been spikes in hate crimes following the Brexit vote and after each terrorist attack. Furthermore, the 2016 report, The Experiences of Black and Minority Ethnic Staff in Further and Higher Education, reveals that 72 per cent of BME workers in higher education are “often” or “sometimes” bullied or harassed by managers and,69 per cent of respondents reported bullied by colleagues. 86 per cent complained of cultural insensitivity. Many reported apprehension about reporting racism because they believed their complaints would not be taken seriously or dealt with adequately.
Perhaps the reason Team GB bobsleigh is again mired in racial scandal is because there is the misconception that racism occurs in isolated incidents and that there is not a pervasive culture of subtle racism that unfortunately still exists in modern British society.