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Marcus Rashford’s influence extends far beyond his campaign to put food on the tables of those who struggle with the stigma associated with asking others for help.
A message to the family of a six-year-old boy who was killed when he was hit by a car while riding his bicycle. Acknowledgment of a child’s school project, sent by the child’s mother. Thanks to the warehouse staff who deliver food to those in need. Responses to their tweets on these topics range from 31,000 to 82,000.
Some perspective here. The prime minister’s tweet on the reasons for ‘getting children back to school’ drew around 9,500 responses Tuesday night.
Marcus Rashford is using his followers on social media to help tackle serious issues off the field.
The concept everyone is talking about in the lobbying and public relations world is ‘authenticity’ and Rashford, who has now formed a task force with some of the UK’s biggest food brands to try to help reduce poverty infant food, provides it in abundance.
He was born into a single-parent household in 1997, two years after Boris Johnson wrote in The Spectator that single mothers were producing a generation of “ill-mannered, ignorant, aggressive, and illegitimate children.”
Those who know him well say that we are witnessing a force of personality that Rashford’s mother, Melanie, has passed down.
Rashford revealed that he leads a new task force to help reduce child food poverty
‘She is formidable. An extremely strong character, ”says a source who has worked with several Manchester United players.
But following Rashford on social media is what gives him a power that players of previous generations could only dream of.
The ability to sidestep politicians who wouldn’t know a working-class single parent family if they fell for one (Health Secretary Matt Hancock referred to the 22-year-old as ‘Daniel Rashford’ in a live newsletter) is making that sport is a vehicle for social and political change in a way that was unthinkable two years ago.
For years, many were not inclined to speak up. When Hunter Davies had access to Bill Nicholson’s Tottenham Hotspur team for his seminal 1972 book ‘The Glory Game’, he found that nine of the 12 who voiced an opinion were Tory, while of the three Labor: Ralph Coates, Cyril Knowles and Steve. Perryman: Only Perryman seemed to have any “political sentiment.”
Rashford took on the government earlier this summer with his school meals drive
England’s ace forced Boris Johnson to give in and keep giving free school meal vouchers
Davies, who went on to write ghostly autobiographies with Paul Gascoigne and Wayne Rooney, later reflected: “The psychology of a footballer is that he is educated to think of himself. They are placed in academies where the goal must be to get ahead of others if you want to get ahead. ”
But when politicians and writers had all the power, footballers were ashamed to express their opinions.
“There is an anti-intellectual tension in the game, which means that speaking up can lead to mockery in the locker room,” said one former player. Sports and politics never mixed.
The fight against racial profiling has done more to change that, catapulting Raheem Sterling into the kind of figurehead that even he didn’t seem to anticipate.
Then came this summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, taking voices in all sports, from soccer to motorsport, to new levels.
Rashford and Raheem Sterling (above) are now front men for speaking out on political issues
When fans tried to hijack Burnley’s efforts to kneel, Captain Ben Mee delivered a powerful and highly articulated response.
United’s player associate adds: ‘Black Lives Matter has been so important and has shown soccer players that they can be heard. For so long, there has been an elitism in this country. I would call it an intellectual bias against working class players. ‘
The world of sport has changed irrevocably and for the better.
It seems incredible now that hugely influential basketball icon Michael Jordan did not publicly endorse African-American politician Harvey Gantt in his 1990 campaign for a Senate seat against Jesse Helms, a Republican with borderline racist views. His refusal to do so, captured in the recent Netflix documentary ‘The Last Dance’, saw Gantt lose the election.
Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold is also determined to help those who depend on food banks
It doesn’t feel like Colin Kaepernick would be ostracized now if he organized a protest.
It also seems unimaginable that Colin Kaepernick, still ostracized from the NFL and without a team, four years after being the first player to kneel, would be thrown out if he made that protest now.
In the UK, articulate activists include Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, football’s staunch ally for food banks, while Gary Lineker, Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville use their massive followers to discuss social issues.
But in his new book ‘Mind Games’, published later this month, former Everton goalkeeper Neville Southall, who now works in the education of struggling children, argues that players and clubs can do more with his influence in social networks.
In the accompanying film to Rashford’s latest BBC interview, a mother is on the verge of tears when she tells him how it feels to know that someone who has had the same experience is on her side.
“He’ll stay with me,” Rashford tells the interviewer. “This is very similar to what I have known.”
