‘Don’t feel sorry for us’ – Villa’s Mings reveals racial abuse, asks for unity

It’s No Room For Racism weekend in the Premier League, yet Friday’s brought us another story of racial animus in the lives of its players.

Aston Villa and England defender Tyrone Mings used his Twitter account to show a screen shot of a vile tweet calling him a hideous racial slur.

[ MORE: Latest on Daryl Dike to Premier League ]

Mings, 28, responded, “Please don’t feel sorry for us, just stand side by side in the fight for change. Social media isn’t getting any safer without it …”

His club, of course, had his back.

“Aston Villa is disgusted by the appalling racist abuse directed towards Tyrone Mings. We condemn all forms of racial discrimination and will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Tyrone, who is an inspirational figure at the forefront of the fight against racism,” Tweeted the Premier League outfit.

It’s been a visible year for racism in football, incident after incident revealed how far we have to come as a society even after the George Floyd killing spurred a series of Black Lives Matter and anti-racism gestures throughout the sport.

Since the calendar turned to 2021 we’ve seen:

• English football’s governing bodies asking social media companies to find ways to curb racist abuse
• Valencia leave the pitch after a Cadiz player allegedly abused Valencia’s Mouctar Diakhaby.
• Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger reveal racial abuse and blame following the firing of Frank Lampard
• Marcus Rashford met racial abuse online following a Manchester United draw with Arsenal

Seemingly this won’t ever go away, but it’s alarming at how th hate doesn’t seem to have relented, as if there’s pride in the despicable views and no worries about putting them into the public and private space.

Follow @NicholasMendola