Ashton Hewitt: Dragons wing hopes to meet racist abuser

Ashton Hewitt has scored 29 tries in 95 matches for the Dragons

Dragons wing Ashton Hewitt would like to have a "constructive conversation" with the person who racially abused him on Twitter.

Gwent Police are investigating a racist social media post aimed at the 26-year-old following the Pro14 loss to Scarlets on New Year's Day.

"If they get identified, I'd like to speak to the person," said Hewitt.

"I'm keen to find out who this is, to understand their mindset and see if I can have a constructive conversation."

He added: "I'd love to see the person behind that and see what influences their mindset and beliefs and morals and try to get to the bottom of it - let them understand how myself and other black people feel, how my family feel about the things they say in a way they target me, and other people.

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"That's the only way, by talking about these things you're going to convince and educate people and help them understand how damaging their actions are.

"I have tried having conversations with trolls on twitter to get something real out of them rather than them baiting me and it has not worked so far.

"I think punishment alone isn't going to change any mindsets and it's not going to help the situation long-term and on a large scale."

The post was made after the Dragons' defeat by Scarlets on New Year's Day and the account that targeted Hewitt has since been deleted.

"I never check my phone too close to the game but just before the drive on the way home, I saw I had been tagged in what was an overtly racist page," explained Hewitt.

"I was added directly and it was commenting on my game with a lot of racist things.

"This was new in the sense it linked to my rugby and to come off the pitch to see that was a shock which wasn't very pleasant. It was horrendous to be honest.

"They just wanted to hurt me. I go through stages of being more thick-skinned and not getting too bogged down by what's said.

"Other times it catches you off guard and everything accumulates and it gets to you. It's worse when it makes your mother and sister upset. That rollercoaster of emotions is hard."

Hewitt tweeted about it, asking for help to identify the anonymous poster and was supported by Dragons and the Welsh Rugby Players Association (WRPA).

In 2020, Hewitt campaigned against anti-racist abuse after revealing incidents he had personally suffered.

These actions have seen him previously become targeted on social media with racist abuse.

"There's a lot of idiots on Twitter, but there are also a lot more people who come out in support of me," said Hewitt. "People who don't know me which is amazing and appreciated.

"My club and WRPA have been amazing and my team-mates and friends have been checking to see how I am.

"The Dragons were keen to take it up with the police on my behalf, because they didn't want me getting bogged down with the situation and going through those channels myself.

"The account is anonymous so I don't know who it is.

"They felt obliged to tackle this and try and set an example by making sure it's understood it is unacceptable and there needs to be consequences for such actions."

As if to remind us that a new year does not mean racism has been eradicated from sport and society, Hewitt was targeted on the first day of 2021.

"It's not going away," said Hewitt.

"If we look at racism, we can't expect the better part of a year of protests and conversations to convert every single racist.

"So it's not a huge surprise. Overnight going into 2021, you know it's not going to get rid of all the racists just because we're in a new year.

"Part of me was a bit disappointed, it's New Year's Day and you try and take as much positivity as you can into 2021.

"This sort of trampled on that a bit, but the support on Twitter just reminded me of the positivity of things I have said and conversations I have had. It reminds you why you speak out and gives you that encouragement."

Hewitt says he was never going to ignore the tweet despite the hurt it caused.

"It needs to be highlighted," said Hewitt.

"It was important for me to mention this has happened now as it has happened to me in the past growing up and it continues to happen now. It only gets worse the more awareness you bring to it.

"It was just important for me to highlight that it does happen in my sport. It's not perfect and it's important people acknowledge it and take action."

Hewitt has no regrets about highlighting racism in society.

"It's been a bit of a roller coaster and I'd be lying if I said I'd never thought of just knocking it on the head and leaving it all alone," said Hewitt.

"But some of the conversations I've had with people encourages you and makes you realise what you're doing is actually worthwhile.

"You are educating people in a sense and I've been told I have been influencing people in a positive way so you hear those comments, speak to those people and it fills you with motivation.

"You feel it's your duty to carry on once you've started. So no regrets at all about speaking out."