It’s hard not to despair of social media when it’s filled with more garbage than all the world’s landfills combined. The latest case in point was the semifinal World Cup soccer match between France and Morocco.
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| Many countries, not one! |
Like trying to force a size 10 foot into a pair of size six boots, numerous self-styled social media experts (read “idiots”) positioned the match as a struggle between colonialism and liberation. As a professional historian I want people to use the past, but not as a club to pound a skeleton. France left Morocco in 1956 and some quick subtraction will tell you that this was 66 years ago. Yes, colonialism is a weed with deep and persistent roots, but let’s not ask young men to carry that burden. No one–not even the respective team managers–were alive when France exited Morocco, plus if anyone cares, Spain occupied southern Morocco and stayed two years longer.
Aside from the French manager, who is 52, no one on the team (a backup goalkeeper) is older than 37 and all of the outfield players are in their 20s. The same is true for the Moroccans, whose oldest player is 33. Those who love underdogs can certainly justify rooting for Morocco against a previous World Cup champion, but colonialism is a lousy justification. It’s probably a good thing England didn’t make it to the final, or I’m sure we’d hear how the upcoming final versus Argentina is a chance to avenge the Falklands War (which was, on both sides, surely one of the dumbest conflicts within the inherently stupid pursuit of war.)
You’ve probably also heard some express hope for the first “African” team and that too flunks the sniff test. What do we mean by Africa? Let’s look at two team photos. You might observe that the faces in one are slightly darker than the other. Great, but the ones in blue (or should I say bleu?) are the French. We are not talking rugby’s 1981 Springbok tour which put South African apartheid on trial. It’s also worth noting that France’s best player (and perhaps the Cup MVP) is Kylian Mbappé, born in Paris but to a Cameroonian father and an Algerian mother.
Which Africa is most represented? Morocco is an African
country by strict geography and little else. One might as well argue that the
United States is a Latin American nation as it shares a continent with Guatemala.
In many ways, Morocco is more Middle Eastern than African. Not much about it fits the profile of Sub-Saharan (read “black”)
Africa. Ethnically Morocco is dominated by Arabic and Maghrebi peoples (those
born in North Africa + Berbers). Its life expectancy is 73.6 years, the median
age is 29, and nearly all of its population (99%) is Sunni Muslim.
North Africa is not Sub-Saharan Africa, where Christians outnumber Muslims by nearly 2:1, the life expectancy is 61.6 years, and the median age is just 18. If you’re wondering, Cameroon is one of the world’s poorest countries, though it’s the Upper East Side compared to places like Somalia, Congo, and Mozambique. Once you get south of Sudan, by the way, don’t confuse the Arabic language with Arab ethnicity. And certainly, don’t make the mistake of thinking that colonialism is just a European thing. Europeans learned a lot about exploiting black Africans from Muslim raiders, traders, and enslavers. Call it bloody hands all around.
At this point I should disavow any suspicion that I’m rooting for France. I have no World Cup favorites or preferences beyond a vague fondness for Portugal. (I knew the USA had little chance of winning–as in virtually none.) I appreciate the skill of soccer, though I’m not really keen on any variety of football. There’s too much midfield strategizing for my taste. I’ll take the speed, brawn, and multiple scoring chances of ice hockey any day of the week. I can see soccer’s chess-like thinking, but would you watch a chess match? I used to play chess, but I’d never watch it.
I’m happy, though, that World Cup fans get to indulge in the world’s most popular team sport every four years. I just wish the idiots would let everyone enjoy it. Sports can play a positive role in a broken world. You might recall that the healing of gulf between China and the West began with ping pong and, yes, that 1981 Springbok tour did much to cast apartheid in a negative light.
For me, above is the picture that will endure from the 2022 World Cup. It’s of Kylian Mbappé embracing Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and later Tweeting he shouldn’t be sad because the entire world was proud of Morocco. Sportsmanship is the polar opposite of combat imagery. Can I please put in a full order of Mbappé and scrape all the social media loudmouths into the compost?
Rob Weir
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