The Newcastle United forward, whose elder brother Shola also plays for the club, was called a nigger by a follower after he tweeted a photograph of a pair of black Nike football boots, alongside the message, There will always be a place in my heart for the all blacks.When the abuser replied, Your hand is nearly the same colour nigger, Ameobi retweeted it, adding, Sad to see some people are still racist nowadays.Newcastle United and the 19-year-old striker reported the matter to Northumbria police, who on Thursday arrested two 17-year-old men on suspicion of malicious communication.Alan Pardew, Newcastles manager, stressed it was important not to become complacent about eradicating racism. We represent the local community here and when something like this happens we have to react strongly, he said. We will not tolerate any type of behaviour like that.With the austerity measures and everybody feeling a bit tight, everybody is feeling a bit narrow-minded and racism is coming to the fore, so maybe it is not a bad thing. We have been leading the football world, in terms of dealing with it, and maybe we should not become complacent in keeping a lid on it.During an interview with the Guardian in May, Shola Ameobi spoke about how life as a black person on Tyneside had eased considerably since, at the age of five, he emigrated from Nigeria with his family. Shola, 30, recalled, It was tough when we first arrived. But things have changed. Theres a big difference in Newcastle, all for the better. People are accepted for who they are now. It means Sammy sees things from a different angle to me. Its great for him to be able to have grown up in the north-east the way it is now.Newcastle United are staunch supporters of anti-racism initiatives and on Thursday they sent Shola Ameobi and Hatem Ben Arfa to a Show Racism the Red Card workshop for north-east schoolchildren at St James Park. After answering the childrens questions, Ameobi said, Days like this are very important. The sooner we teach young children about the issue, the sooner theyll learn that racism in todays society is wrong.
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