It was not an isolated incident when Ohio State forward E.J. Liddell received disturbing threats on social media after the Buckeyes' first-round exit in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. It was not an isolated incident when a sports bettor threatened athletes of social media and was subsequently arrested for his behavior. It was not an isolated incident when Arizona Cardinals star Budda Baker was the subject of an extremely hateful, racist social media message.
These, by definition, are not isolated incidents. I just happened to choose these three off the top of my head because I've written about them when they happened and could not help but express my disgust that individuals actually are intolerant enough to sent these hateful messages and, on the other side of the equation, athletes — or any victims of social media harassment — are forced to deal with all of this extra stress, pressure, and twisted mind-f***ery on a daily basis from people we call "fans."
For legendary striker Thierry Henry, who is best known for stints with Monaco, Arsenal, Barcelona and the New York Red Bulls, enough is enough. He decided to take himself off of various social media platforms, explaining his decision to do so in his final post before the hiatus.
"From tomorrow morning I will be removing myself from social media until the people in power are able to regulate their platforms with the same vigour and ferocity that they currently do when you infringe copyright. The sheer volume of racism, bullying and resulting mental torture to individuals is too toxic to ignore. There HAS to be some accountability. It is far too easy to create an account, use it to bully and harass without consequence and still remain anonymous. Until this changes, I will be disabling my accounts across all social platforms. I'm hoping this happens soon."
Around six months ago, Henry brought awareness to racism he's experienced as a Black soccer player and called upon everyone to take action and make a change for the better.
By removing himself from social media and leaving us with this passionate post, he's once again bringing the issue of racism to the forefront and making sure we work to tackle it as a community. And it's obviously easier to hide behind an account and make these hateful posts than it is to do it in person, making it all the more important that we listen to his message and see to it that there's a way to get past this problem.
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