In the world of sport today, racism doesn’t always scream. Most of the time, it whispers. It’s hidden behind commentary and disguises itself as “just an opinion.”

And if you’re a minority, whether it be Black, Asian, South American, etc., you learn to recognise those whispers before you even understand the word racism.

Jude Bellingham has been at the elite level since the age of 18 years old, raising his levels each year since his Birmingham City days. He’s been performing at levels most players could never reach. Yet his “attitude” and “arrogance” are somehow seen as unacceptable.

We’ve seen this script before.

A young black athlete showing personality instantly gets painted as a flaw in the media. When a player from a certain background shows emotion, it becomes a “mentality issue.”

When will this change? Growing up, I heard similar judgments. They’re rooted in the same coded language minorities hear every day.

For me, it was as a student at college when I endured similar experiences from lecturers. Not via slurs or open disrespect, but they always found a way to belittle me. The tone. The dismissiveness. The patronising that came with each discussion we had. Instead of addressing the work at hand, it felt like endless criticism directed at me.

Back then, I wasn’t able to articulate my feelings towards it. It wasn’t obvious or explosive; I just felt something was off. Conversations that I had with them lingered with me throughout the week. Because it wasn’t loud enough to call out, you just convince yourself it’s normal.

What I did was just take it. And put my head down. Not knowing at the time that, as it builds up, it slowly changes the way you see yourself. The racism that’s hidden behind politeness, that has you questioning yourself, long before questioning the system around you, will cause you long-term harm.

It’s the part that rarely gets spoken about; it’s never just one comment or one situation, it’s the accumulation. The feeling of having someone put you in a box feels inhumane. In sport, this pattern is everywhere. It’s common for people to make assumptions about these athletes without them even saying a word about themselves and their background. Athletes from a minority will have their confidence mistaken for “attitude.” Comments like this will instantly paint them as arrogant or ignorant when, in fact, it’s just an athlete having full faith in their ability.

We live in a reality where you are judged first, understood second, and humanised last.

With these experiences, whether it’s my own, Jude Bellingham’s or countless others, it’s proof that the systems around us allow it to happen. Sport doesn’t just exist in a bubble; it’s a reflection of the world built around it. And in the world today, people who hold power rarely take any accountability.

When racism happens in any form for an athlete, they’re encouraged to “be professional,” or “don’t react.” Not realising that swallowing disrespect does not prevent situations like that from occurring in the future.

Each time incidents like this happen, the club releases a statement. Leagues issue fines that cost less than a match-day ticket. Organisations promise “education.” When in fact nothing truly changes, the truth is that the systems in place are not designed to confront racism, but to manage it. Keep it quiet. They believe games deserve more attention than the damage caused to the athletes who play them.

If there’s to be genuine change with racism in sport, accountability needs to be more than PR statements and quick fixes.

The consequences should be more impactful. Media should examine the language they’re using in the same way they analyse games. Clubs should protect players with the same intensity as they save their brand. And governing bodies need to start enforcing the policies that they love advertising to the world.  

The one thing that we need from the athletes from the minorities is their voice. Talk about the issues at hand. Allow them to express what they feel about the situation. Too often, people want physical evidence of racism when it comes in all forms.

Accountability comes with allowing the minority athletes the freedom to express themselves in the sport they have a true passion for, without judging their character or questioning their mentality and attitude.

Racism does not vanish once ignored. It brews in the shadows.

The moment we decide silence is not an option, individually and collectively, is the moment the system will be forced to change.