The racial slurs and taunts bombarded Mike Maignan, and all he could do was wander, hurt and helpless. They flew from the stands of an Italian soccer stadium and rained down on a vast, green field that supposedly doubles as a safe space. But they rained, gleefully, without fear or consequence, and … “What do you want me to say?” Maignan later wrote.

He could join a chorus of millions condemning racism. He could call for lifetime bans and prosecution of the fans who made him feel subhuman. But why?

“As long as these events are treated as 'isolated incidents' and no comprehensive action is taken, history will repeat itself again, and again, and again,” he warned — and not on Saturday night, after he and his AC Milan teammates walked off a Serie A pitch amid “monkey” chants.