Rashford has responded after his defaced mural was plastered with messages of love and support
Euro 2020 is going to sting for a very, very long time but what hurts most is realising not that football can bring out the worst in people, but that these people live among us and sit waiting for an opportunity to capitalise on an entire nation’s vulnerability and spread their vitriol.
Marcus Rashford MBE was unfortunate enough to miss his penalty and as if the pain wasn’t crushing enough, he and his community were met with hate, as his mural in Withington was defaced with racial remarks.
As truly depressing as this, the response from the good people of Withington and Wythenshawe, where the 23-year-old grew up, didn’t let it sit in that state for long and the mural is now covered up with cards, love hearts, children’s drawings and words of support and kindness
This is what we did to obliterate the racist graffiti at the Marcus Rashford mural in Withington. I'm proud of Marcus, and I'm proud of the local people who defended him with messages of love and pride. pic.twitter.com/hTBWI6nYbe
— Harriet Monkhouse 🐝💙 (@HarrietMonkhaus) July 12, 2021
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) July 12, 2021
Now that’s the England we want to be a part of.
Seeing the response from fans a just all-round good people alike, Rashford took to Twitter, writing a powerful statement regarding the events of the past 48 hours:
“I’ve grown into a sport where I expect to read things written about myself. Whether it be the colour of my skin, where I grew up, or most recently, how I decide to spend my time off the pitch.
“I can take critique of my performance all day long, my penalty was not good enough, it should have gone in but I will never apologise for who I am and where I came from.
“I’ve felt no prouder moment than wearing those three lions on my chest and seeing my family cheer me on in a crowd of 10s of thousands.
“The messages I’ve received today have been positively overwhelming and seeing the response in Withington had me on the verge of tears. The communities that always wrapped their arms around me continue to hold me up. I’m Marcus Rashford, 23 years old, black man from Withington and Wythenshawe, South Manchester. If I have nothing else I have that.”
“For all the kind messages, thank you. I’ll be back stronger. We’ll be back stronger.”
We know you will be Marcus and we’re so proud of you already. We can only imagine how tough it must be to be going through a moment like this right now but be assured, missing a penalty won’t be your legacy: how much you’ve done for this country will be.
