All his life dealing with football, for good and bad: Jacinto Elá (41) lived the glory of precocious genius (he was declared the best children’s footballer in the world at the age of 14), the indolence of the adolescent and the curse of injuries. Today he reviews football from the perspective of experience: he writes books and posts on his Instagram account: poor footballer.
How do you experience these racist episodes in football?
I confess: I am going against the current. At times I look like an Uncle Tom, a domesticated black man… But this is how I see it: Vinícius is taking advantage of everything that we black people have been debating for a long time. Vinícius does not think about anything, he acts out of commercialism, for him there are no others, the Chinese, other ethnicities… He is a rich 23-year-old who has never been prevented from entering a nightclub or denied a rental.
So better than street?
No no! As my friend Daniel Madjody (English teacher, activist and music critic) says: ‘Better that than nothing.’ But Vinícius cannot monopolize all the voices. There are others who can say better things. The thing is that no one gives them the microphone.
But do you see racism in football today?
I take this racism with a grain of salt. Before, 200 shouted and none of them were arrested. Now there are four who shout ‘monkey, fucking nigger’, and they are stopped.
Was it worse before?
What if it was worse…? In the lower categories, Engonga and Donato were alone. Now there are many children of other ethnicities. Of course, the child must be taught to decide how racism affects him. Sarr and Vinícius say that we must react. Those of us who have experienced it always resort to other tools, fighting for our rights as police officers, teachers, entering the system… Because black people still do not see themselves represented in social life. We are one generation away from reaching where England or France are. There are no extras in Spanish films, when the Barcelona metro is full of Arabs, Pakistanis or Chinese. We remain invisible.
Did you experience racism?
In one of my first games as a ball boy, the local radicals threw peanuts at me. The best thing is that I didn’t remember it. Another kid told me another day. He told me: ‘Do you remember that day…?’ When he went to the fields, the black man took all the insults. And the referee told me: ‘Don’t answer.’ Compared to that, now being a black footballer is a bargain.
¿…?
The center won’t tell you: ‘Shitty nigga, go to your country.’ In any case, everyone must understand that what happens on the field does not stay on the field. If not, fans will cross the line. When he was a 16-year-old boy, he hated going to watch games. He heard how they were picking on the black man. That also continues to happen, I’m not going to question it.
And can we solve it?
I can only help those who receive insults. I grab the black boy and say, ‘monkey, monkey, monkey.’ By the third ‘monkey’ he is already laughing. And there he blurted out: ‘If I tell you, you’ll laugh. So why does it affect you if someone who doesn’t know you at all says it to you?’
Do you have to swallow?
Vinícius is too used to receiving only praise.
But, if they insult you…
If you receive insults, try not to let them affect you, because those insults are not something personal: they don’t know who you are. Or else, you can cry and get scratched, and take home what someone who doesn’t even remember told you. Prepare your children, friend, it’s my best solution.
