Shaka Hislop: It might take another 100 years to dismantle racism but we'll get there'

"A group of youths were walking down the hill towards me and started shouting abuse, he says. Then one recognised me and they began chanting my name and asking for autographs. I drove away as quickly as I could. It was an incident that set me back. I was anxious to protect my wife and daughter and, as a black man, I'd been disrespected. But then it hit me: I'd been taught about the power of individuals and the platform footballers have."

"From 50 yards away I was a black man seen as deserving the most vile, frightening and dehumanising abuse but from 100ft I was a footballer worthy of adulation, he says. That sums up a lot of my wider experiences in life. When we see people who don't look like us on the outside we see differences but, when we get to know them, we realise there are more similarities than differences."

Shaka Hislop experienced racial abuse at a petrol station in November 1995 that left him fearful for his family's safety and feeling dehumanised. The incident triggered a realization about the power and platform of footballers to influence attitudes. Two months later Hislop and teammate John Beresford visited Gosforth High School to speak about racism, marking the first event organized by Show Racism the Red Card, founded by Ged Grebby. Show Racism the Red Card grew to offer anti-racism workshops in schools, colleges, workplaces and football stadiums across the UK and marks its 30th anniversary, rooted in a conversation after that encounter.

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