Thierry Henry expects more tolerant fans, less racism in U.S., MLS

I'm so happy he's here!

From NY Daily News:

Thierry Henry has come to America, to the New York Red Bulls, for a lot of reasons: For the city, for the soccer, for friends, for the money. And there is another factor, too: Henry finally will get a break from the sort of overt racism that permeates sectors of European football, and that has led him to crusade against such behavior throughout his career.

"I don't really know how it is here," Henry said about racial relations in U.S. sports. "But I never heard of anything bad, and that's great."

Even at his introductory Red Bull press conference on Thursday, Henry made a point of telling people he is not from Paris, but from the outskirts. And to this day, he continues to battle the stereotypes that too easily roll off the tongues of politically incorrect Europeans.

Henry went to his sponsor Nike and created a "Stand Up, Speak Up" campaign while he was at Arsenal, a movement that soon was backed by other European stars. Before long, players of color who previously might have ignored racist affronts were reporting them. One of them, American defender Oguchi Onyewu, filed a lawsuit while playing for Standard Liege in Belgium against Jelle Van Damme of Anderlecht, charging Van Damme with calling him "a dirty monkey."

"I can't take credit for this," Henry said about such proactive stances. "But it's always good to raise awareness, to say no to racism. Before, players were hearing stuff and not saying anything."

Source NY Daily News