God created all men equal. Unfortunately, some bigoted idiots are unable to see this. They display prejudice against others simply because of the color of their skin, their physical disabilities or even their sexual orientation. Thankfully, in recent years, giant steps have been taken to combat what is a mindless minority. Laws have been introduced which make it illegal to discriminate against people, for example, because of their race.

Race is an 'accident' of birth. None of us choose where we are going to be born or where our parents came from. We are all born with the same needs, the same desires. We should also all be born with the same rights. Alas, this is not the case. And this is why some people choose to persecute others on the ground of race. There have been countless wars fought over the centuries on the basis of race. Arab against Jew. Hitler against Jew. Christians against Muslims. And so on. So, it is not surprising that some of this hatred has filtered down to the lower echelons of society. And it is only natural that it is then going to be taken to sports grounds by spectators.

The responsibility for our actions lies with ourselves. We are to blame for any base behavior. Education from an early age should teach inclusiveness. That will help, although not everyone will get the message. The full force of the law should be brought down on fans who offend race laws. Long prison sentences for the worst offenders, big fines and lowly community work for first time low offences. Clubs too have a responsibility. Some sports see clubs joining schemes to unite against racism. That is admirable. Star players go out into the community and preach what should be second nature to us all - that racism is unacceptable.

Other fans also have a duty to alienate racist fans. The problem is that sport is a tribal thing. Fans unite together against the opposition's supporters in an almost anything goes atmosphere. People say and do things they would not normally dream of in a super charged atmosphere. But if those of us who hate racism take a stand and single out the offenders, the message should gradually percolate through to everyone. We all need to do our bit to clamp down hard on racism in sport. It is not easy. And it is virtually impossible to 100 per cent eradicate racism among spectators. But we can diminish it a great deal so that those who step out of line are made to feel they are doing something wrong. And they should be heavily punished.

Learn more about this author, Phil Hill.
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