Sports

Black British excellence in sports and athletics is a new and widespread phenomenon. Fifteen years at the most. They make up perhaps a third of all British athletic teams. Colin Jackson, Linford Christie, Denise Lewis, Kelly Holmes and Dwaine Chambers are probably best known.

Twenty-five per cent of professional footballers are Black. Ian Wright, Dwight Yorke, Sol Campbell, Nwankwo Kanu and John Barnes are household names.

Britain's boxing champions include Frank Bruno and Lennox Lewis, with Audley Harrison coming along right behind them.

Blacks in sports can be found everywhere: from elite athletes in national stadia to youth on school grounds, playing fields and in community centres. Young and old alike welcome black sports prowess as a contribution to black advancement.

But there are some troubling signs ahead as well as glimmers of hope for a racist-free sports future.

 

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