“Racist and anti-Semitic” emails from the Southampton University Men’s Hockey Club (SUMHC) social email account were last night made public.
Islam, a third year Poltics & IR student, posted the screenshots of an email from SUMHC on SUSU’s Facebook page, appealing for an end to “campus bigotry”.
He told the Soton Tab:
I usually don’t read [the emails] but this one caught my attention because of the subject of the email “as-salamu alaykoum. I am not [a member], but I’ve been in the mailing list for a couple of years now.
The emails, sent from an account named “SUMHC Banter”, calls “whining” Freshers “worth less than a Jew’s foreskin”.
It continues “I know racial diversity is important to our esteemed club, but seriously I wish you would FUCK OFF.”
The Hockey Club initially declined to comment, but have now released a statement to the Soton Tab:
As a club we find the allegation that we are in anyway racist or anti-Semitic as untrue. We have a highly diverse club, in terms of race, religion and sexual orientation, so any claims that we are discriminatory to anybody who identify as these, we believe are baseless and false.
You can read the full statement .
A source within the club told us the emails “have been a tradition of SUMHC for many years”, and that the ones posted are “extremely timid to previous banter”.
VP Sports Development Katie Lightowler fumed:
My view is that this particular email is unacceptable. SUSU have been formally notified and the correct procedures will be starting from this point.
Last year’s club captain Dan Stewart told us:
I can say with all confidence that we are in no way a racist or anti-semitic club. SUMHC is home [to] a diverse range of ethnicities and beliefs and we respect every member equally.
Any comments from emails have obviously been taken out of context and been used to maliciously attack our long standing club which continuously attracts the largest member following in the AU year after year.
Is this just club banter taken out of context, or is this unacceptable in any situation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Dear SUMHC,
You guys have no idea what you have got yourselves into, the Social Justice police are going to ride your asses hard.
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I bet the fun police (susu clique) have put this at the top of their next poorly attended circle jerk/council meeting.
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The comments are quite clearly within context. Hope they get more than the book thrown at them, this is pretty disgusting.
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So this will be these undergrads’ first lesson in ‘don’t write these kinds of fucking things down you morons’ then. Better to learn now than to actually enter the real World and make the same mistake.
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Oh dear oh dear!
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Pathetic. This sort of things is clearly a joke and anyone that thinks otherwise should just bore off.
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Said like a true racist.
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For anyone who was wondering what the whole email said, here it is (this is an exact copy of it):
Dapper Gents of the finest AU club,
I thank those of you who fought off the hangover to grace the camera at the club photos today, most of you looked marvellous – [name] the ugly cuntling and a very pale green [name] exempt from that complement. You running out to wretch your stomach lining up really was a sight to behold, but you deserved your applause, at least the photo will forever be a reminder of this hangover. Congratulations to those of you who made it to Clowns after the bus journeys back, and to those who didn’t please sort your shit out before next week.
However some weaklings didn’t manage to make it past stage one of Wessex Wednesday boozing. The Fresher’s on the bus back from Bath gave a very poor performance at boozing their cider-hands, so much so we had to get the Ladies Freshers to help them out, absolutely tragic. What a poor show, I would say on average the Freshers have been total fucking bollocks, if you all traded whining for banter and booze you’d be well on your way to actually earning your position in this esteemed club. You’re not even worth the train of hungover thought, sort your boring miserable lives out, you’re all worth less than a Jew’s foreskin.
[name], you were the pick of an awful bunch, you’re incompetence is unfathomable. You’re inability to booze insults me, and the sight of your vomit seeping into the coach seat disappointed me beyond comprehension. You didn’t even do cider-hands, you’re a fucking embarrassment to yourself, me and your family name. What makes things even worse is turning up to the club photo in your puke covered shirt, you’re disgusting, cretinous and worthless. I know racial diversity is important to our esteemed club, but seriously I wish you would FUCK OFF!
If you’ve ever wondered how to fail at life, look no further than [name]. The bastard child of a hooker and vicar, who has a face worse than the elephant man, the intelligence of an aborted foetus and social skills worse than [name], its no wonder you are failing your degree to an extent rivalled by no other. Watching you attempt to strawpedo a bottle of wine was as painful as watching sweaty [name] grind against girls who were wishing they were dead on the Jesters dancefloor. Being sick on the Clowns floor, many times, is not something that is going to help you pass even one module. Neither is being taken home by your CC and a Fresher. You have 0 arrogance and -100000000000000000 excellence. You’re honestly the most worthless cunt I have ever laid eyes on, try your hardest, you’ll never succeed at life, just try and get one of your nine right.
[name] was out in force, sucking any metaphorical dick he could put his lips around. You’re inability to schweff average-to-poor looking girls never fails to baffle me. Unbelievably I hear you actually managed to put your tongue down a course mate’s throat this week… what a disgusting thought. (Just to confirm, it was a girl) I hope Miss ’50 shades of’ Grey, tied your hands together and pulled the rod out of your arse, I bet she got a brown nose after that!
He was as ruined as the economy was after the Labour government, and totally white girl wasted. Yes of course I’m talking about [name]. Such a shameful display from you, introducing a non-existent game of twenty-one, left you with a wet peen, but not in the way any heterosexual boy would want. I would go as far to say that was the most well deserved why-was-he I have performed this year. It seems sports mix + a bottle of champagne is a way to a very fizzy night… You know you’ve made it when you lose your keys, dignity and virginity (oh wait…) Turning up at your ‘friends’ house (who would want to be your friend anyway?) and falling asleep on their sofa really confirms you’re a sad act. If anyone wants to follow in [name] footsteps, please don’t. One is enough for me to try and forget.
In case you don’t already know, [name] shat himself. You can all make your own banter about this…he’s not worth my time.
In the words of [name]… What are you being a dickhead for? Why are you being a dickhead? Yes that applies to all of you who have not paid for AGM! DO IT NOW. You only have until tomorrow evening to get your payments and food orders in. SO IF YOU WANT TO COME (which you obviously should) PAY NOW.
If you haven’t voted for [name], do that too… we want him to win! Then he’ll be around to bully for another year.
Pay for AGM and have a good rest before Varsi-fucking-ty!!!!!!! Gonna be epic!
Social Sec Out.
(This comment has been edited to preserve identity)
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Context at last!
I think it is perfectly fair and just to ask someone with sick on them to fuck off
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Yes and in context the phrase “worth less than a Jew’s foreskin” is still appalling. This is not banter. It is crass and as people that represent our Uni everyone in the club should be ashamed of this email rather than rallying around it.
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You obviously have no sense of humour- racial abuse is pretty mainstream- Im jewish myself and couldn’t give a rats arse- I’m more worried about real anti-semites and the Islamic society at the UNI than the hockey club
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Any half decent social sec would know it’s 20+1. I hope he gets punished accordingly.
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This email is a sad reflection on UK university culture. So if you want to play hockey at Southampton university and have a penis you’re automatically subscribed to shit like this? Call me a killjoy but I wouldn’t be happy if I was hockey-inclined that this is what was expected of me.
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It’s sort of sad that those involved in this think that the full email puts it in a context that’s better!
This is a really saddening window into a privileged and appalling element of university life.
And for those in any doubt calling something ‘banter’ does not make it appropriate to be racist and anti semetic
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What has privilege got anything to do with it?
The club is the biggest in the union and actually gets less funding proportionally than other clubs.
Im an ex player at the club and I was raised by a single mum in a council flat
And if privilege you also mean ‘white’ then your’e just plain wrong- two years ago both Jo (Basil) and Kishan were the most senior members of the club- social sec and first team capt. respectively and they were white middle class kids last time I looked.
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Lol the audacity. Social secs second name is Cockburn yet he’s happy to dish out dick jokes
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Actually, the Cockburn guy is the Social Sec for next year and had nothing to do with this – you realise false accusations like this can amount to libel? Please get your facts straight *sigh*
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Apologies, I’m happy to retract that statement and supply water for your fiery genitalia…and your fiery personality you cheeky devil 😉 😉 😉
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You have ‘been in the mailing list for a couple of years now’ listening to the weekly fixtures emails, social events and kit orders! Were you too afraid to come to trails in your first year? Scared off by our discriminative and racist selection policies? Therefore you decided to be a quiet parasite, lurking in the depths of our mailing list waiting for your chance to spark up and fulfil your jealous demagogic urges?
Personally I’m glad you never joined, as one thing we do discriminate against in our club is defamatory weasels.
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Not sure what your understanding of the word “defamatory” is, but posting screenshots of emails which quite clearly contain racist language is definitely not what the rest of the world understands it as.
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defamatory
/d??fam?t(?)ri/
adjective: defamatory
(of remarks, writing, etc.) damaging the good reputation of someone; slanderous or libellous.
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slander
NOUN
the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person’s reputation.
libel
NOUN
a published false statement that is damaging to a person’s reputation; a written defamation.
It would only be defamatory if his post was false, which it’s not. Also, the hockey club doesn’t have a good reputation to ruin, so it wouldn’t be defamatory anyway.
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Don’t shoot the messenger.
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The answer has to be “out of context”. If you are not a member you will not be familiar with our camaraderie and strong brotherly bond.
I’d have 2 questions though.
1) How much he would you reckon a Jews foreskin is worth?
2) isn’t it upto the person in the email to raise a complaint if they feel discriminated against?
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The answer has to be “out of context”. If you are not a member you will not be familiar with our camaraderie and strong brotherly bond.
I’d have 2 questions though.
1) How much he would you reckon a Jews foreskin is worth?
2) isn’t it upto the person in the email to raise a complaint if they feel discriminated against?
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So, the “banter” of this esteemed club, based on racial abuse and the bullying of Freshers, is “timid” in this occasion?
I’m disgusted that people feel that this sort of behavior is acceptable.
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The Jew’s foreskin comment is, let’s face it, in no way anti-semitic. It’s an unnecessary, tasteless turn of phrase, true, but who hasn’t said something tacky before?
“You’re worth less than something so damnable by god that it’s excised shortly after birth” I mean let’s be honest that’s a crippling insult.
The racial diversity comment however/email title… yeah no, not on a public mailing list, not on a private email, barely even acceptable to your best mate – let alone a student you’re castigating!
Stop trying to be LSE Rugby…
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whaat? Do you know what the title actually means? Its the bog standard arabic greeting-
You saying its ok to take to piss out of Jews but not the arabic language
hello double standards
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The rest of the banter emails are disgusting in so many ways slating girls and other clubs and the men’s hockey club should be disciplined and monitored. Banter is all well and good but not to the level of personal attack they go to of members from different clubs. A full investigation should be done into how the president allows this to carry on and the social secs think it’s acceptable
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Shit bants = Shanter
Obviously you have no experience of how sports teams operate do you?
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There is a difference between using racial stereotypes (potentially offensive) and being racist (actually discriminating against another based upon their race). The former, in the right company where everyone is comfortable with it, can be a kind of humour, or it can be offensive, depending on the feelings within the group.
Since I am not an SUMHC member, I cannot comment on whether that context existed and neither can [name]. Only [name] and his fellow members can tell us that.
(This comment has been edited to preserve identity)
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“Any comments from emails have obviously been taken out of context”
Taken out of what context? That they were intended for the eyes of a few and have now been made public? Yeah in that context I can see why you wouldn’t be too happy about this.
“and been used to maliciously attack”
Well, no. Honestly expose is closer to it. I suspect that Islam is now the one receiving some fairly malicious messages – as at least one of the comments here so far proves.
“our long standing club which continuously attracts the largest member following in the AU year after year”
Which makes it worse, no? You’d have thought that they’d be aware that an increased size means increased responsibility and an increased need not to act like privileged arseholes.
Hope SUSU throw the book at them.
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privileged arseholes… ouch.
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I’m more concerned that this is what passes for humour for some soton students. Just cringingly awful.
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How is the subject of this email offensive? It literally means peace be upon you and is used as a greeting. Surely, using it in the correct context is not racist?
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There is absolutely nothing wrong with this email. The fun police need to pipe down and get a life.
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[name] has been quite observant to notice that the Men’s Hockey Club is notoriously male
(This comment has been edited to preserve identity)
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Firstly, the initial post to the SUSU Facebook page contains blatant racism itself – ‘notoriously male, pale and privileged’ is a clear racial stereotype of Men’s hockey themselves. Secondly, using [name] name in further trying to slander the club is completely irrelevant. This isn’t an example of ‘campus bigotry’, every sporting club is open to all, this is evident by [name] evolvement in several AU clubs.
(This comment has been edited to preserve identity)
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As I’ve written on another post- a lot of the most senior hockey players in the last few years (and also arguably the most prominent) i.e. the first team captain and social sec weren’t white.
Race has nothing to do with this
Its a PRIVATE email circulated among members of a paid organisation of which membership is open to all at suss
If there is an issue then its the leaking of private conversations by a dickhead who didn’t have the balls to confront the original creator of the ‘banter’ email
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Alos the person writing the emails has been democratically elected by the entire mens hockey club.
The womens team has a similar process
should the entire club be closed down?
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This kind of email is probably not too uncommon amongst many variety sports teams at universities across the country (including the likes of the red bricks)
I would take from what knowledge I have of these types of teams the content of the email to be designed as nothing more than banter – ok MAYBE they should be a bit more thoughtful when using racial comparisons in the messages but it was for a closed, private list not meant for the whole world to read.
In relation to the comments that everyone is white and privileged in the club – how would someone who isn’t part know, have they actively checked the membership list / requirements
I’m sure had anyone whose name is in the original message or had read the original taken real offense they would take it up with the club or an appropriate SUSU representative.
In short the Union probably should have a word regarding more thought going into such emails but no heavy action should result from it (unless real evidence of offence is raised by a member)
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Well, I think that this banter should be kept within acceptable boundaries – forcing people to drink like pigs or face club-wide defamation is not something this university, or any other university, should be proud of. This is similar to bullying, and I’m frankly getting sick of seeing it everywhere.
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this article should be taken down, its seems to have exacerbated the issue and spread hurt and bad feelings even beyond what they were when it was posted on the SUSU page. Which it was deleted from for being malicious soon after it was posted. its a shame the soton tab have to resort to controversial articles to get readers.
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No it shouldn’t, no it hasn’t. It’s not malicious to write a news story about a club writing racist and sexist things in emails… It’s news. It’s a shame SUMHC has to resort to this sort of language to try and appear like lads and showcase their unbelievable banter in public emails.
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The tab has every right to post this article – from the way I’ve read it they have been fair in posting the complaint AND a link to a follow up where the club have their formal response to the accusation and have also quoted SUSU As to how they see thing
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The email is a bit distasteful at the worst, but it’s not racist.. They’re telling Shaan to fuck off because he’s shit at drinking not because of his race. Worst things happen in other sports clubs, why is no one talking about the [one] club sticking chorizo up their buttholes?
(This comment has been edited for legal reasons)
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People aren’t focusing on one of the key issues here, who is Benjamin Lowrie? In what way does he think this sort of journalism is in any way productive or indeed helpful to those who feel targeted? Is this sort of piece actually quite cowardly? It lacks any analysis whatsoever and just seems to serve his own selfish, sensationalist agenda. He hasn’t stood up alongside Islam in saying this is wrong, nor has he highlighted some of the more tenuous claims of racism. Well done Benjamin on attracting as many readers as possible to a subject that should have been discussed and dealt with behind closed doors. It is a pity that the News of the World has been shut down as I feel a role there would have been perfect for you.
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I wholeheartedly agree. Benjamin Lowrie has not been a responsible journalist in the construction of this article.
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Hi Matt, thanks for your comment. As it’s a news article my job isn’t to take a side, just present facts and quotes from both sides to help readers make up their own minds- if you spot any inaccuracies, please let me know!
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Well, you’ve taken sides by claiming it’s a racist email which it clearly isn’t.
Also, you state emails? There appears to only be one email here. Nothing like some unnecessary sensationalism.
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Benjamin, you took sides when you called it a racist email and selectively presented parts of the email to suit your agenda.
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n what way is writing a factual piece on a major discrepancy from one of the university’s most popular AU clubs any of the things you say about this piece. How dare he give the facts of what has happened and not rise to the defence of this group of slithers. Fuck off and go cry about how you and your club are gonna get the big [redacted] dick of SUSU rammed down your throat.
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There are a couple of issues I see here:
1) the emails are not private correspondence if anyone (i.e. not a paying/playing member of SUMHC) can access them. As such comments are made in a public domain and the committee should have consideration that any communication could be seen out of context.
2) there are Frankie Boyle style comments here which could be seen as racist/anti-Semitic/homophobic/sexist etc. It depends whether you have a closed or open view on the term “banter”
3) the drinking culture seems to be an issue. Drinking to blind drunk and vomiting is not big or clever. Yes it happens but it seems to be an expected part of a social bonding in this club and almost an initiation which I thought had been banned
4) the author of this article should probably have presented a news article and then closed the comments function (if possible) as this article and the comments will likely have a negative impact on those in the club (particularly the social sec if he tries to get a job on a grad scheme and has Social Sec USMHC 2014-2015 on his CV).
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We welcome chaps like this with open arms!
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My heart bleeds for the poor sod. Actions have consequences and you have to learn from them
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It was just, banter
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Because calling an organisation “male, pale and privileged” isn’t a causally racist retort at all is it? I suppose Islam Nayem thinks the entire hockey team are engaged in their fair share of: nepotism, tax-evasion and of course fox-hunting as all white privileged folk stereotypically are.
Why is the subject phrase “as-salamu alaykum” circled in red under the context of racism, anti-semitism and homophobia? Who exactly is being discriminated against as a result of this “insensitive” comment?
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Male solidarity and bonding through banter is perfectly understandable and happens all the time whether you think that’s right or wrong that’s societies problem, join the feminist society if it really pisses you off. However, what is a problem is blatant cruelty from some douche behind a computer laughing at his own lame ass insults. I don’t care if it’s racist or anti-Semitic or whatever, the problem is that chances are someone reading a passage directed at them didn’t find it funny, or think of it as banter, they saw it as a direct attack on their character. It’s bullshit that you have to put up with being made to feel like crap by some guy just to play a sport that you enjoy.
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Public school wankers.
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http://www.footballtube.com/img/video/it-was-just-banter-richard-keys.jpg
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