Turning Cheeks and Eating RacismNick Beasley - 9 Jun 2016

Ahead of the Euros, today’s football-themed throwback from 2014 still offers some pearls of wisdom on turning the other cheek... 

"Turning the other cheek is not passive retreat... it is not turning away in fear, but stepping forward in grace" 

Last weekend, Barcelona played Villarreal in a Spanish league football match. Over the course of the game (and not for the first time) Barcelona’s Brazilian right back Dani Alves suffered racial abuse from a number of the opposing team’s supporters. In the 75th minute, one home supporter threw a banana at Alves as he lined up to take a corner. 

This is a reasonably common form of racial abuse, and a number of players worldwide regularly suffer similar torment. Alves, however, addressed the act with a uniquely swift, simple response: 

Without missing a beat, he bent down, picked up the banana, peeled it, ate it and, still chewing, took the corner.

Throughout the following week, countless numbers lobbied behind Alves in support, with the trend of taking selfies while eating bananas going viral. The impact was huge; the coverage extensive.

But having a banana thrown at you and then choosing to pick it up and eat it; what does that achieve?

I don’t know if Dani Alves knew the impact his actions would have, but as he endured the abuse he had intermittently suffered throughout his 12 years playing in Spain, he took action. He had taken action before; spoken out against the abuse and challenged football’s governing bodies, but on this occasion, he confronted the act in the moment. 

He elected not to ignore it; but to acknowledge and undermine it, all at once: 

YOU HAVE HEARD THAT IT WAS SAID, “EYE FOR EYE, AND TOOTH FOR TOOTH.” BUT I TELL YOU, DO NOT RESIST AN EVIL PERSON. IF ANYONE SLAPS YOU ON THE RIGHT CHEEK, TURN TO THEM THE OTHER CHEEK ALSO. AND IF ANYONE WANTS TO SUE YOU AND TAKE YOUR SHIRT, HAND OVER YOUR COAT AS WELL..."

MATTHEW 5: 38-40

In Matthew 5 we read of turning the other cheek, but there’s a misconception of what this means. Many feel that to turn the other cheek is an act of cowardice; to flee confrontation, to ignore it and hope it goes away. 

But turning the other cheek is not passive retreat – it is active participation. It is to engage directly with the conflict; the evil that confronts us - and to rise above it. It is not turning away in fear but stepping forward in grace. It is a statement of God’s power that is greater than earth’s evil.

“Utterly brilliant from Alves”, wrote football pundit and ex-professional Gary Lineker: “Treat the racist berk with complete disdain”

But I don’t think he had understood the heart of Alves’ action. To treat with disdain would be to bow to a level of retaliation - throwing the banana back and shouting abuse. What he did was something far more powerful. He made the act impotent and ridiculous – rising above it, not stooping to its eye line. 

If you ignore evil and hope it goes away, it has a tendency not to -  it shouts louder, provokes harder, until some reaction is given. And if the torment will continue until there's a reaction, we must ensure our reaction is the right one. 

Turning the other cheek is an act of positive confrontation: meet evil, address it head on, and declare yourself greater than it.