'Yeah, but' defence of Sheffield Wednesday racist will only ensure it will happen again and again

Because, some might feel, it's been five days, there's a police investigation underway and people have said their bit. It's been condemned at every station from fans on a local radio phone-in to a FIFA president in a globally-circulated statement. Folk have rolled around the same old catchphrases and arguments about what can be done and the talking heads have been and gone. As is always the case when incidents of racism make their way into the news cycle, there's a couple of days coverage until something else comes along. And then it's dropped.

It's dropped because it's uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable to read and it's uncomfortable to write. I've seen the numbers and the cold truth of the matter is that people don't want to read about racism. People, frankly, want the conversation to go away and to fade into chats about blokes kicking balls about, because that's where comfort lies. And every time, we toe the line and do just that.

Let's face it, what the world doesn't need is yet another 'white knight' column pontificating about racism by a white, middle-class bloke whose insight into the minority experience is largely limited to conversations had with Asian lads he's played cricket with.

What white blokes do know a little more about, though, is the white bloke experience looking in on racism; the moments that you pretend you don't hear on the train, the excuses made for the 'old eccentric' uncle a bottle of wine deep over dinner, the scanning past a meme in the lad's chat group that left you wondering if you should say something or not.

Racist acts have existed for thousands of years and will exist thousands of years beyond the abhorrent, stomach turning racial abuse received by Kasey Palmer at Hillsborough on Saturday. Though the notion is noble and the education done by charities remarkable, history shows the cold hard fact is that the occasional abhorrence of one or a handful of angry little men in a stadium of several thousand people will sometimes make itself known. In a society increasingly fractured, where the language our politicians use to describe some of the vulnerable people they are elected to protect is so clearly dog-whistle race baiting, it may well be the case that these incidents become more common as the world gets that bit more hateful.

It was the response to the incident that was a further fascinating, depressing concern. No sooner had the scale of the incident become clear that a swathe of replies flooded in, that Palmer had been goading the crowd in the second half, the subtext clear that on some level he deserved what he got. There was talk of 'inciting crowds' and 'baiting', with more than one mention of 'race cards' being played. It'll be interesting to see if the same language is used the next time a white player winds up a few fans.

The point is regrettable but was well-made on social media this week that a legendary football figure from this region has from time to time goaded opposition supporters in their career to be met with disgusting comments about tragedy in their private lives. Each sorry time that happens there is uniformed condemnation and disgust, no suggestion of having a hand in sickening personal abuse. So why not in the case of Kasey Palmer? Why not with racism?

The obvious suggestion would be that most people can sympathise with the plight of personal tragedy. To the masses of posts quick to make claims that Palmer's behaviour was somehow a justification of the incident, the plight of a minority subjected to racial taunts is perhaps something they cannot relate to. It showed. It was akin to the 'short skirt' argument.

Were these responses a display of racism or stomach-turning ignorance and stupidity? It doesn't matter, does it? Social media certainly decided it was the former and the response was fierce and passionate.

Hundreds of years ago, crowds would meet in town squares to witness the public execution of those who had done wrong. Town criers would travel days in advance to spread news of what was to come and the public were told that their presence would represent their playing a part in the justice system. These days, we scroll to the latest controversy trending on social media and say our piece, publicly registering our disgust to hundreds of strangers and logging off to a feeling of satisfaction that we too have done our bit to shout down evil.

If the same energy was put into challenging drunk uncles and battling against the questionable group chat comments, you rather suspect that after a while the world would be a better place and the prejudices built up and spewed towards footballers on cold Saturday evenings perhaps not quite so emboldened. Perhaps. The face-to-face challenging of comments from people you know and often love are not as easy as lampooning the actions of strangers either ignorant or bewildered. The ease of social media protest is something, but it is not nearly enough. It's lazy and we should be braver.

It's also lazy and convenient to trot out the line that 'That bloke is no Sheffield Wednesday fan'. He is. He paid his money to sit in the same seats as those around him, he wanted the same team to win and he felt enough passion in the moment to let his beliefs become public as the mask fell from his hateful face. The Star has heard from Owls fans in recent days who report other instances of abuse this season that have gone unpublished and unpunished. He was not in vast company but he was also not alone and the fanbase should take responsibility in stamping out the faction of nastiness by responding to the club's plea this week to report such instances. Challenge them if it safe to do so.

Not many will read this article. Many will brandish it a calculated attempt to push further negative coverage onto a football club we love, wishing the agenda would simply move on so we can talk about football. That's a nonsense. It's all a bit uncomfortable. And it should be.