Should England take the knee.?

Quoted from mariner91

It’s hilarious when 99% of the people who claim they’re so against “Marxism” don’t actually know what it is.

Well I do. I’ve seen all their films and think they’re great.
Groucho is my favourite  

I think an interesting view on whether or not to take a knee is in this clip - albeit for American Football, the arguments on both side are worth listening to.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/american-football/54134763

Basically, if the people concerned feel the need, then they should be able to express this. This is markedly different to expressing a racist opinion, which should be stamped on.

Quoted from mariner91

It’s hilarious when 99% of the people who claim they’re so against “Marxism” don’t actually know what it is.

I bet alot of people have been googling Marxism the last few days...

I hope none of the babies crying about the “defund the police” idea ever moan about one of our matches being overpoliced in future.

Quoted from Mikey_345

I bet alot of people have been googling Marxism the last few days...

I doubt it. Googling implies a desire to understand it. It's much easier to just repeat the same tired messages that are pumped at us by the establishment and media.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

Have you tried a cricket forum?  

As it happens I for one am delighted the PM and Culture secretary have come out in support of Ollie Robinson. Trying to disrupt his career about tweets sent when he was a teenager is way over the top. He has given a full apology and that should be the end of the matter.

The ECB are just following their own procedures which has nothing to do with the government.
They have made no comment which is correct until the investigation is concluded.
What you are really saying is that they should ignore their own guidelines?

Yes the cricket was an over reaction.

L H is the moderator oh dear.!

Quoted from mariner91

It’s hilarious when 99% of the people who claim they’re so against “Marxism” don’t actually know what it is.

Isn’t he that bloke who sang hazard?

The taking of the knee undoubtedly came over from the US after Colin Kaepernick made a protest about the way black Americans are policed in the US, with all of the grim racial history attached to it.  It became inextricably linked to BLM, both in the US and around the world, including in the UK, where some protests ended in violence and vandalism.  The Premier League carried the Black Lives Matter slogan and logo on shirts at the restart of the league last summer, so it would be revisionism to say that taking the knee has *nothing* to do with BLM, whether or not that means the organisation or the concept.

Having said that, protests and displays of support, often evolve, and the Premier League and Sky eventually dropped the BLM branding from their shows, shirts, pundit lapel badges etc.  The England team have said that they now see the protest as being against racism in football more generally, and cited abuse from the stands and social media abuse.  I've seen some documentaries on the social media abuse players get and the lack of action from companies in removing it.  We were all appalled when our players were racially abused in Bulgaria, and I reckon every single person on this thread at the time backed out players in walking off.

So where does this leave us now?  Yes, you can argue that the knee-taking was a symbol of one American socio-political protest movement that ended up over here.  You can disapprove of that in good faith.  I'm not a big fan myself, and am probably closer to the Les Ferdinand/QPR position that the campaign should now be using other symbols.

Now if those of us not naturally inclined to the BLM Organisation's view of the world, or who wouldn't personally take a knee, are asking England Players to accept those points are being made in good faith, then I think we owe it to our players to accept THEIR explanation of why they're doing the protest, in good faith too.  When our players say they're taking the knee to protest racism in the game, social media abuse and to raise awareness of racism in wider society, I take their word for it.

Ultimately, the racists are in a minority and we're having an argument about how different people within the non-racist majority interpret a gesture.  Our way out of this is for people to accept that most fans, like the players, are making points in good faith and to respect that even if there are misgivings, and to focus instead on supporting the players and squad, and not sending them out to try to win us a home tournament with their own fans' booing ringing in their ears.

Let's have some of that spirit of togetherness we had in the country in 2018 and put our differences aside to back the team for a few hours every few days for the next month.  Come on England!