Farewell, Big Ron. The football pundit's racist comments the other night have put an end (for a while at least) to Atkinson's "trenchant analysis" of the game. No regrets from whatisnews. Atkinson was born in Liverpool, but always seemed to be a Manchester United fan at heart (not surprising perhaps, bearing in mind he managed them - but unforgivable, nonetheless.) I grew up in a house where hatred of the jewellery-loving, plasticine-faced Atkinson was always palpable and I'll be happy to see him relieved of his duties.
It does beg the question of what, exactly, makes somebody a racist. Ron's comments (I'd blush to repeat them here) are not exactly post-modern or ironic. There's no wit there. Yet everybody who knows him says he's definitely not a racist. It's hard to square the circle. Two things leap out, though: first it's not the first time, apparently. And secondly, the argument that Ron can't be a racist because he was one of the first managers to employ black players is bogus. He employed those players because he judged they were good players. It was a calculated, professional decision made by a hugely ambitious manager. It doesn't render him incapable of being, on some other level, a racist.
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