Most liked posts in thread: Players taking the knee

Could not care one little bit what they do. Same with England players etc. If they want to do it and see it as a way to make a point then so be it.
Why everyone is so worked up about it is baffling. It’s a players choice, leave them be and enjoy the game.

 

My general view is that football should be completely non-political. I don't think there is any more racism in football than in any other area of society. I'm also against the seemingly constant one minute silences that delay the start of the game. Before long we'll have an announcement that the groundsman's brother's daughter's hamster died yesterday so we'll having a one-minute silence as a mark of respect and the players will all be wearing black armbands. But on a more serious note, this derives from the increasing sentimentalisation of society which predates, but has been extremely intensified since, the death of Princess Diana. By all means have these at times of genuine national moments, but let us regain our sense of proportion. Our society is becoming, like America, divided, and on every issue we are challenged to decide between black and white, for and against, yes or no. Should we have a gesture about animal rights (which I am entirely in favour of but would not want to see represented on a football pitch), gender politics or climate change before every match? Obviously no, so why should a gesture against racism take precedence? People are as they are and nothing that takes place before a game will change them. If people break the law in a football stadium in terms of racism or anything else then identify them, prosecute them and ban them. But let the rest of us get on with watching the football.

 

Of course it wasn't. Only a paranoid right wing conspiracy theorist would come up with such a ridiculous idea.
Southgate had the chance to become the first England manager to win an international tournament since Ramsey in 1966. But, instead of picking the players he thought performed best at taking penalties in training, he decided that he'd risk losing his historic opportunity in order to make a point of having a black player score the winning penalty. Excuse me while I go and photograph the pig that's flying past my window.

 

Sick of having Racism rammed down my throat.
It will never stop and taking the knee just fuels the fire of the far right.

 

Is it really that much of an issue? Ten seconds (if that). Back up. Off they go. More important things to worry about that getting offended/angered by taking the knee

 

If the title of this thread was what's your stance on kicking racism out of football, or standing together against racism.
I guarantee 100%, that every reply to it would have been in full support of such campaigns.
As racial prejudice abhors everybody

However, the question was about taking the knee, and you can tell by the responses how it divides people.
Not good at all.

 

I'll just say this......................NOBODY is booing the players, just the disgusting filthy gesture.....

 

I think @Tony Wilkinson meant to say that taking the knee is divisive, not decisive, which is causing some confusion in this debate.

 

I still go back to my original comments which I have stood by since the players started to take the knee.

If the players felt so strongly about taking the knee they would have done so long before BLM came on the scene last year and started to do so. The FL and PL then claim the two aren't linked yet players say otherwise and wore BLM Logos so clearly someone is telling lies.

If the players had been doing so this discussion wouldn't have even got off the ground nor if they had made a alternative gesture that's the simple fact no matter how anyone wishes to dress it up differently.

As I have said before I do not agree with the abuse Rashford Saka and Sancho received nor that of monkey chants etc but the taking of knee is something I can or will never understand, it has divided fans more than any other racism gesture in the past and for me that tells you all you need to know that it isn't working.

If the FL/PL were to find another gesture I bet within weeks the boos will have long gone but the more they carry on you will still hear the boos.

And for the record I have never booed however I have turned my back on the gesture and will continue to do so.

 

Whilst I would never boo the players for doing so, I really think it has run its course and needs to stop now.

 

A dangerous thread where this could wind people up to the point they regret putting something. All I will say is that football clubs were setup as an escapism from work, general day to day nonsense and politics.

 

Judging by the widespread applause and no booing at today's match, it seems most fans who attended today are supportive of taking the knee.

 

Well a lot of the player thought they were at the beginning. It was officially reported as being a gesture in support of the Black Lives matter movement rather than the looser "Anti-racism" aspect which is where all the vocal disagreement stems from.

You can find many sources linking the two....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55151065 - "Harry Kane says Premier League players should continue to take a knee before matches in support of the Black Lives Matter movement."

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2020/aug/27/nba-strike-athletes-kneeling-black-lives-matter-protest - "Over the past few months, athletes around the world have been kneeling in support of Black Lives Matter" (Numerous references alongside the pictures on this one)

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11771451/take-a-knee-meaning-history-blm/ - BLACK Lives Matter's iconic symbol of power - taking the knee - has been a cornerstone of the global movement against racial oppression. The act is now performed by people across the globe as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.

https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/what-does-taking-the-knee-mean-why-footballers-take-the-knee-origin-of-gesture-and-what-priti-patel-said-3307215 - The England team made the gesture before their Euro 2020 games in support of the Black Lives Matter movement

https://news.sky.com/story/football-fans-split-on-whether-taking-a-knee-helps-tackle-racism-survey-12329006 - In some countries, professional football players and staff have chosen to kneel at the beginning of each game to show their support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/english-fa-implore-fans-not-boo-players-who-take-knee-2021-06-13/ England players were booed by some fans before two recent friendlies when they knelt - a protest borrowed from American NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and popularised by the Black Lives Matter movement.

Basically every single news source of every persuasion links the two. For people (including Southgate) to say that it has noting to do with any wider movement and is purely anti-racist is disingenuous at best and gaslighting at worst. After being told for a year that the two things are linked we shouldn't be trying to suggest that people who believe there is a link are stupid.

 

Theres a good debate somewhere here but suggesting that Bukayo Sako was picked by Southgate to take a penalty in any wy because of the colour of his skin is not only utterly ludicrous its also insulting to Garteh Southgate. I worry about people sometimes.

 

Can't agree with that Tone, no one should suffer abuse because of the colour of their skin.

 

If one of our own players was being racially abused during a game, it’s fair to say the vast majority of our fans would rally around him and probably drown out the chants by singing his name in support. Respectfully watching him take the knee is just another way of showing support. It’s 10 seconds, if that. Probably the same length of time it takes the ref to check that both assistant referees and goalkeepers are ready to start. To use the excuse that it’s affiliated to a political movement as a reason to boo, in my opinion shows a lack of empathy towards a person / persons who (usually) gives their all for the club in the hope of getting us promoted. Why should a person be abused for the colour of their skin or gender preference? Knowing their social media account will be full of hate messages if they happen to have made a mistake.

I see taking the knee as a stand against all forms of abuse, toward all creeds, colours and genders. Surely if you accept it’s nothing to do with any political party, (as stated by the EFL) then as a decent human being, you can stay silent for 10 seconds, unless of course you’re happy for the abuse to continue.

 

One of the main problems with 'taking the knee' is that there is a wide range of reasons why people support / are opposed to it. Its not an entirely binary decision and reducing it to that just polarises society further when actually we should be bringing people together.

Saying it is not political is one thing, but I don't believe the current government supports it which has made it political.
Saying it is in no way affiliated with BLM is one thing, but last season the players had all replaced their names with Black Live Matter on their shirts - I don't think enough has been done to distance the gesture from the BLM movement which is clearly unpopular / divisive.

There's a reason why no-one has ever booed 'Kick it out' or any other anti-racism campaign in football.

FWIW, I don't think we should boo but the gesture should stop.

 

We know racism has been going around a while in football and I am sure some fans will remember inflatable bananas being thrown at black players not forgetting the monkey chants in the 80/90s hence one of the reason why kick out racism was started up and rightly so.

But here's the thing if the players felt so strongly as they claim about racism in football why did it take them until BLM started to take the knee to do likewise why weren't they doing so beforehand? The FL PL and players claim their is no link between two well in that case why didn't they find a alternative gesture that way no one could link the two and the discussion is a non starter. Now going back to football federation saying there is no links why the hell did players mainly in the premier League wear BLM Logos on tops why did Harry Kane in December ( still on YouTube) last year say players were kneeling in support of BLM. Is HK lying or is the federation because clearly someone is. Then you had BLM banners across empty stadiums not mention the likes of sky putting up BLM in the 9th (yes the exact time George Floyd had his neck knelt on) which BLM jumped on coincidence I think not. Fans booing the taking of the knee is because of its links to BLM not because they don't support their stance on racism.

I will say again if the players felt so strongly about it they would of been kneeling long before BLM did ie (when Colin Kaepernick did) it's that simple yet when that question is put to them they can't answer. Any other gesture would of been more supported.

For me I will always support kick out racism such as when players Saka Rashford and Sancho received abuse that was so wrong on many levels and the culprits deserve their punishment, however when it comes to taking the knee not a chance will they get my support as to what it represents.

 

If the players started doing the Roman Salute before the match....maybe even after have "Nazi" replacing their name for a few weeks and little swastika badges on their kits....would it matter how many times they told us it wasn't relating to fascism?

Taking a knee is a BLM symbol. Any amount of reading will bring up multiple sources to say that. When you take a well known symbol, initially link it to the common factor but then try to say it has no relationship it can't be a surprise that some people still see it as linked. As I've said, a different gesture with no actual link to the organisation would completely take that element of the argument away.

 

You are entitled to your opinion but it is my opinion that that suggestion is utter tripe.