When the year began, we’d be lying if we said we expected Gary Lineker to be one of the few mainstream voices standing up against racism.
But 2016 has been a very strange year indeed, and – in a climate that has brought us Brexit, the election of Donald Trump and accusations of the BBC pandering to fascism – the former footballer is a rare voice of reason.
The Match of the Day anchor has spoken out against some vile front-page rhetoric, questioning how far the UK has fallen in its attitudes towards refugees and anyone who isn’t British.
And now he has become one of the first to speak out after UKIP leader Nigel Farage spoke of ‘That Obama creature – a loathsome individual who couldn’t stand our country’.
Lineker pinpointed the use of ‘creature’ – dehumanising and racially-charged language used against the United States’ first black president – in Farage’s TalkRadio interview following the election of Donald Trump as Obama’s successor.
I don't suppose Farage calling President Obama a 'creature' is in any way racist?
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) November 10, 2016
Others have quickly followed Lineker’s example, pointing out that likening a black man to an animal is one of the oldest racist tropes around.
As some have pointed out, the statement carries these intonations even without Farage’s years of anti-immigrant rhetoric. And yet there are still people who, for whatever reason, have decided Lineker is ‘the real racist’.
+Farage talks about the outgoing president in dehumanising terms. His latest is 'the Obama creature.' Reverting to 19th racist terminology
— Sunny Singh (@ProfSunnySingh) November 10, 2016
https://twitter.com/SamarthKanal/status/796695722972352512
Nigel Farage literally said "that Obama creature" on the radio last night.
THAT. OBAMA. CREATURE.Still telling me he isn't racist?
— Ross McCafferty (@RossMcCaff) November 10, 2016
@NigelFarage describes Obama as a "loathsome creature". He really is desperate for a job with Trump isn't he. The racist little shit.
— TonyCross (@Lokster71) November 10, 2016
Farage now emboldened enough to be openly racist about President Obama.
— Jackie Pearcey (@jackiepearcey) November 10, 2016
I see Lineker's mentions are full of people calling him a racist for suggesting that Farage's "creature" comment is racist.
— Chris (@chrs00) November 10, 2016
