As Mirror Sport's Black History Month mini-series continues, this piece focuses on boxing star Ben Whittaker, who claimed the silver medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Born and raised in Wolverhampton, the 25-year-old was a hyperactive child and his father suggested turning to boxing as a way to channel his constant bundle of energy.
The boxer revealed he signed up for his very first fight without consulting his parents, but it paid off as he emerged victorious, before deciding to pursue the sport for a living. During the exclusive chat, Whittaker, who has an English and Austrian mother and a Jamaican father, shared what comes to mind when he thinks of Black History Month.
“It’s a time to celebrate what we’ve gone through and where we are now,” he said. “Being a black athlete and being able to perform at the highest level and put my country on my back, it’s the best feeling ever and it means a lot to me.” However, he did stress the need for black history to be taught and promoted more consistently throughout the year, especially throughout the education system and called on those with the influence to try and make a difference.
“We only get one month and it gets brushed under the rug," he added. "It should just become a norm now, we’re in 2022, everything should just be accepted. This month, it should be pushed as much as possible, but sadly it doesn’t get the push it should do. If people with the blue ticks and a bit of say don't start pushing this then it’s going to go quiet and get forgotten about.
“Especially in primary schools, drill black history into them from then, so when they get older it’s the norm. I think that's what the higher-ups have got to do.” On his boxing journey, in addition to life in general, Whittaker shared his experiences in the sport and challenges he has had to overcome, one of which is racial profiling.
“It is a struggle now and again,” he continued. “I do think boxing is a sport where most of the champions are African-American or African descent. In all walks of life there have been times where I’ve been profiled. It’s not nice because some people don't know who I am, but I'll wear a tracksuit and I’ll put my hat on and it’s ‘oh, I don't know about this guy’. It’s not the best feeling and it’s still around today sadly.
“Even as a kid when I went into the gyms there were not a lot of kids boxing. I’d walk in and it was like a pin dropped. I was thinking ‘what’s going on here’? My dad said ‘just keep walking, just do your thing, when you spar you show them who you are’. That’s the way it was sadly, it shouldn’t be that way, but it was."
In England and Wales, there were 7.5 stop and searches for every 1,000 white people, compared with 52.6 for every 1,000 black people. Furthermore, those from mixed ethnic backgrounds were about two-and-a-half times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people.
Whittaker is disheartened by some of the things he has experienced due to his race, but he remains encouraged by his platform and uses his achievements to inspire the next generation. “Being be a black athlete representing my country, I like that I’ve done what I’ve done because it shows other kids who might feel that type of way or get that type of profiling that someone can do it who looks like them,” he added. “I wear the Great Britain vest and that type of vest underneath.”
Representation is so vital to the black community, as seeing people flourishing in an industry one is keen to enter further fills them with motivation and the drive to try and succeed. For Whittaker, it was Birmingham-born footballer Joleon Lescott playing for his boyhood team Wolverhampton Wanderers, and former heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua later in life that inspired him to go after his dreams.
“Joleon Lescott, he was the local hero for me and I remember I shook his hand and I didn’t wash my hand for a week,” the Olympian chuckled. "Being a little kid, seeing someone who looks like me and acts like me, I said ‘I want to be like him’. Then I started growing up and I saw Anthony Joshua and once again he looks like me and I thought ‘I want to be like him’. If you see someone that looks like you and represents the same things as you, it inspires you to want to be like them.”
Whittaker touched on some of the adverse reactions people can have to being racially profiled, and sadly saw some of his friends go down the wrong path as a result. But he praised his upbringing for keeping him on the straight and narrow and explained how he has helped the younger generation.
“What I’ve done before is go into the schools," he explained. "I went back into my local school and it was good to see the kids’ eyes light up. I’m a local kid, I’ve been through the same things as them and I live around the same area as them. No-one’s ever come into my school and no-one ever gave me that reason to look up to them so that’s what I try and do it now and I think that’s what more people should do.”
After capturing a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Whittaker turned pro earlier this year and last fought on the undercard of Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk’s second fight in August and emerged victorious.
After winning his first two professional fights, the boxer outlined his goals for next year and beyond in a very simple and confident manner. "Next year, it's just the same old me,” Whittaker said. “Just keep beating them up, keep winning and just keep it moving from there.”
Read more of our stories about Black history at www.blackhistoryisourhistory.com
Sign our petition in a bid to make the history of Black Britons a mandatory part of the National Curriculum here.