Manchester United player Millie Turner’s dad responds to criticism of his daughter for posting photo of an in-game incident with Chelsea’s Lauren James during FA Cup semi-final
Manchester United player Millie Turner’s dad responds to criticism of his daughter for posting photo of an in-game incident with Chelsea’s Lauren James during FA Cup semi-final
Here’s what he, and other people saying similar things, are ignoring. In a perfect world, yes, a player can have a little social media banter about anyone. But this world is not perfect at all. Public figures such as Turner are in charge of their own media presence, but also have some obligation to understanding how other people will react, and how their social media presence either can and will fan the fire on things or calm things down. If Turner didn’t initially realize how her post would be fuel for racists and for hate, okay. But she could have and should have never reposted it and deleted it after it *was* used for that. The missteps are that she’s not responsibly understanding her position as someone who can either defend or make things worse for Lauren James.
Michelle Alozie, after a *much more egregious* incident during the World Cup made a joking tweet with a picture of herself on the ground (initial smart thing she did that Turner did not: James is not in the picture). When she realized people were attacking James (using racism) in her name, she posted a tweet that said:
>abeg, rest
we are playing on the world’s stage
this game is one of passion, insurmountable emotions, and moments
all respect for Lauren James
Now Alozie is a black Yale graduate. She’s smart and obviously has been forced to be socially aware because she too is black. I don’t expect as graceful or knowledgeable a response from most anyone else, but Turner has had plenty of opportunity (as have her supporters in this) to backtrack, or simply make a statement about how it’s normal behavior in a game. Instead, she clearly has taken her position and her position is one that wants to fan the fire on racism and hate.
chombivents on
I don’t know how much love is still there between them as they’ve since unfollowed each other. LJ clearly didn’t see it as “fun”. Posting that photo if that was any other player would most certainly not get them the backlash that LJ receives.
2 Comments
Here’s what he, and other people saying similar things, are ignoring. In a perfect world, yes, a player can have a little social media banter about anyone. But this world is not perfect at all. Public figures such as Turner are in charge of their own media presence, but also have some obligation to understanding how other people will react, and how their social media presence either can and will fan the fire on things or calm things down. If Turner didn’t initially realize how her post would be fuel for racists and for hate, okay. But she could have and should have never reposted it and deleted it after it *was* used for that. The missteps are that she’s not responsibly understanding her position as someone who can either defend or make things worse for Lauren James.
Michelle Alozie, after a *much more egregious* incident during the World Cup made a joking tweet with a picture of herself on the ground (initial smart thing she did that Turner did not: James is not in the picture). When she realized people were attacking James (using racism) in her name, she posted a tweet that said:
>abeg, rest
we are playing on the world’s stage
this game is one of passion, insurmountable emotions, and moments
all respect for Lauren James
Now Alozie is a black Yale graduate. She’s smart and obviously has been forced to be socially aware because she too is black. I don’t expect as graceful or knowledgeable a response from most anyone else, but Turner has had plenty of opportunity (as have her supporters in this) to backtrack, or simply make a statement about how it’s normal behavior in a game. Instead, she clearly has taken her position and her position is one that wants to fan the fire on racism and hate.
I don’t know how much love is still there between them as they’ve since unfollowed each other. LJ clearly didn’t see it as “fun”. Posting that photo if that was any other player would most certainly not get them the backlash that LJ receives.