Thanks to a youtube posting, the issue of race in MLS is prevalent for the first time in its short history. We have been lucky as soccer in fans in the US. We see horrific stories from around the world regarding riots, stadium collapses and racially charged banners and chants. I was proud of the fact that, while racism is still a big problem in the US, we always seemed to do a good job of keeping it out of our sports. In America the athlete is gray. Until someone goes and messes it up.

As you can see from the clip linked above, there are always going to be individuals who will ruin it for everyone else. I don’t think we can ever truly stop that. What makes it worse for us American soccer fans, is the inevitable hooliganism tag we get smacked with anytime the general sports media gets a hold of any story similar to this. We already fight an uphill battle everyday trying to change the minds of the masses and convert them to what we know is a beautiful game. Instances such as this force our sport to take a step back and see how far we really have left to go.

So what can we do? How we answer this question will show our mettle. There are people who will choose to roll over and dismiss it. There are others who will blow it out of proportion. The fact is that this could have been any stadium on any day, that it happened in Columbus is an unfortunate circumstance for the true Crew fans. They will shoulder the brunt of the blame. And perhaps they should, because what you don’t hear in that clip is anyone standing up to the guy abusing the players…

I don’t think there is a supporters group in the this country that would stand up and say they support shouting out racial slurs from their sections. So, my challenge to the supporters groups? Put your money where your mouth is. We are in a unique position to “police our own”, and we should. The talk of bans is ridiculous. What I’d like to see is something like the following:

The leaders of all the different supporters groups, regardless of size, in MLS should get together to form a Cultural Council of sorts to establish what will and will not be tolerated in their sections. They need to go on record and serve notice that certain guidelines need to be followed. Once the guidelines are established each group should nominate one volunteer to serve as their representative to the council, to update other groups on their results and how they have dealt with their own group’s adversity.

I know many of the supporters groups already have their own proclamations, regarding acceptable behavior, and that is awesome. But couldn’t your experiences in dealing with these problems help another group? We need a handful of people that can put their respective colors aside and talk.

This doesn’t have to be a big formal deal, it can be a private message board on an unassuming server. Whatever it is, it has to happen to show that we, as soccer fans, expect more from ourselves and are willing to take accountability. It can’t be just Columbus alone against the world. Our group, that reads the blogs, posts on message boards and get up at 3am to watch games on Sopcast, is a small but passionate one. To further divide it serves no purpose.

So the ball is in your court supporters groups. Do you want to do something about it? Or wait for it to happen in your section next?