“Humanity and social media at its worst.”
Marcus Rashford has posted a response to racist abuse he received following Manchester United’s 0-0 draw with Arsenal on Sunday evening.
This is the second time in a week United players have been targeted with racist abuse after Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe received torrents of abusive comments on Instagram after the team’s loss to Sheffield United on Wednesday.
Chelsea’s Reece James has also revealed abuse of the same nature sent his way this week.
Sadly, this is not uncommon. Social media platforms allow people to send abuse anonymously, but it is a societal problem and appears to be getting worse.
“Humanity and social media at its worst,” Rashford tweeted on Sunday evening.
“Yes I’m a black man and I live every day proud that I am. No one, or no one comment, is going to make me feel any different.
“So sorry if you were looking for a strong reaction, you’re just simply not going to get it here.”
Rashford continued on Twitter, saying he would not share screenshots, so we won’t either.
“I’m not sharing screenshots. It would be irresponsible to do so and as you can imagine there’s nothing original in them,” the 23-year-old explained.
“I have beautiful children of all colours following me and they don’t need to read it. Beautiful colours that should only be celebrated.”
Humanity and social media at its worst. Yes I’m a black man and I live every day proud that I am. No one, or no one comment, is going to make me feel any different. So sorry if you were looking for a strong reaction, you’re just simply not going to get it here 👊🏾
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) January 30, 2021
In case you needed a reminder of why players are still taking the knee.
This is why.
Greater Manchester Police have said they are investigating the abuse sent to Rashford.
“A number of these comments have been reported to us and we are liaising with those involved to provide support and we will be investigating these crimes thoroughly,” said a GMP statement.
“Nobody should be subject to such abuse and it is deeply upsetting not only to those who suffer it, but to all those who come across this awful language too.
“These hateful words have no place anywhere in our society whether online or otherwise.”
Facebook, which owns Instagram, also released a statement after Rashford’s abuse.
It read: “We have taken action in this case by removing accounts and comments and are continuing to investigate.”
