At the same time a movie about Texas Western's trailblazing path to the 1966 championship is about to appear in theaters nationwide, it was shocking to see an Italian soccer player made a fascist salute to fans last week at a Serie A league match. Progress can be seen by looking at the past, and in the United States a lot of change has taken place since Don Haskins crossed multiple barriers by starting five black players in the NCAA title game against all-white Kentucky.

Up until 1970, teams comprised solely of white players took the fields at college football stadiums around the South. Texas was one of them, as Terry Frei pointed out eloquently in his book, "Horns, Hogs & Nixon Coming." Now, the Longhorns are led by a black quarterback and feature a roster that is loaded with African Americans. These athletes are no longer ridiculed or the targets of jeers from bigoted crowds. They are celebrated and cheered.

 A thing of the past?

Courtesy Der Spiegel

But in Europe that is a different story. In soccer stadiums around the continent, black players are subjected to taunts. From the Bernabeu in Madrid to the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, they are hissed and booed because of their color. Others have had bananas thrown at them. Meanwhile, a subculture of racism, anti-Semitism and hatred that exists in Europe is bubbling to the surface at league and international matches, where extremist groups pack the stands and espouse their propaganda. Paolo Di Canio, the player who made the fascist salute, plays for Lazio, a team that has an army of fans who sympathize with far-right ideologies. In 2004, the club, which is based out of cosmopolitan Rome, was fined because of the racist actions of their supporters during a match.

But Italy is not the only country where overt racism is found in sports. Similar incidents have been seen Spain, England and France. It is a reflection of the growing discomfort in societies that are changing. A wave of immigration has transformed the populations in Europe, and they are no longer homogenous. As a result, there has been a backlash and people are voicing their bigoted and xenophobic views in stadia across the continent. Black players have been the targets of their anger and hostility. Even Thierry Henry, one of the best strikers in the world, was singled out in a racist remark by Spanish national team coach Luis Aragones.

In the United States, such overt racism would not be tolerated. Just look at Al Campanis, the former general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost his job because of misguided comments he made on ABC's Nightline in 1987. That was 21 years after Haskins revolutionized college basketball and advanced the cause of African-American athletes.

A lot had changed since then, and in a matter of two decades the country became sensitive to minorities, so much so that political correctness is now criticized by even mainstream commentators. But sixty years after the ####s were defeated in World War II, fascist propaganda is still seen in the most public of forums. That is troubling. Europe needs change, but it appears that it is regressing. At at this point, there is to be no happy ending to this story in sight.