Should England take the knee.?

Quoted from Stadium

Barney Ronay:

First, the booing. Nothing was solved here despite Southgate’s own, very clear and respectful call for kindness. It will be there again at Wembley.

What to do with this now? There are issues with knee-taking. Nobody has to agree with anyone else about anything. You might feel this is not necessary, or believe that discrimination is overplayed, or – who knows – a good thing. You might feel there is something odd in football as an industry preaching about inequality, or men who earn 350 times the national wage in a country where people go hungry. These are points for discussion.

But the public booing of a simple anti-racism gesture is a shameful, hurtful act. Doing so to young men, your own players, who are regularly racially abused is doubly shameful. Pretending this has something to do with “keeping politics out”, or that creeping “Marxism” is a threat to your way of life in Britain (Conservative majority: 83) is cowardly and disingenuous.

It is worth remembering in the middle of all this that football is just an amplification of what is out there. If there are racists, boneheads and people without compassion at England football matches, this is because these people exist in England. The harm they do is not confined to, contained by, or even that relevant to football. Football has to live with it, because no other physical human activity offers this soapbox, this visible theatre of hate.

And in reality the people who need to answer for this level of dissonance and rage are those in power: governments of the past 20 years; a sickly strain in the British media; and all those diffuse clumps of intolerance and ignorance wherever they may be found.

That’s a very profound bit of text and there is an argument to be had that recent governments have perpetuated the racial divides in society (Brexit being a notable example of it) but once again, when and where does it stop, which government facilitates this change, this different way of thinking, that booing players who take the knee is unacceptable. You see this kind of change isn’t something that’ll happen overnight, it’s a generational thing and there’s still a section of society, in this case fans who go to England games and see players taking the knee that their immediate response is to boo. I feel like I’m waffling a bit here, but all i can see in the immediate short term is stubbornness from both sides, a refusal to change either actions or viewpoints and ultimately something will have to give, otherwise it’ll be to the the detriment to the England team and neither side wants that.

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

Football is already ceasing to be a white working class leisure activity to play and it is happening quite quickly. There are precedents from the USA in boxing and basketball offering ways to fame and fortune to black kids.

I can only read what you wrote yourself. I’ll ask again - is football only for the white working class?

Quoted from DocDock

That’s a very profound bit of text and there is an argument to be had that recent governments have perpetuated the racial divides in society (Brexit being a notable example of it) but once again, when and where does it stop, which government facilitates this change, this different way of thinking, that booing players who take the knee is unacceptable. You see this kind of change isn’t something that’ll happen overnight, it’s a generational thing and there’s still a section of society, in this case fans who go to England games and see players taking the knee that their immediate response is to boo. I feel like I’m waffling a bit here, but all i can see in the immediate short term is stubbornness from both sides, a refusal to change either actions or viewpoints and ultimately something will have to give, otherwise it’ll be to the the detriment to the England team and neither side wants that.

Whilst I don’t disagree about the stubbornness on both sides I don’t know how I can moderate my view without setting racial equality in this country and in football back 20 years. Like it or not it is the latest in a long line of things that have empowered racists. I’m not quite sure what those booing the knee have to lose by ignoring it rather than booing it? Maybe someone can help me answer that.

As can been seen everywhere now, this BLM thing is dividing not just football but the whole of society.

There are a lot of angry people out there who just want to get on with there lives and are sick to flipping death of all this excrement being pushed down there throat.

Quoted from LH

I can only read what you wrote yourself. I’ll ask again - is football only for the white working class?

Wriggle, wriggle. And the sweet corn on the supposed excrement you read? How do you account for that sort of insult as a moderator?

Quoted from LH

The World Cup would be pretty excrement if only the white British working class could take part.

At least we'd have a chance of winning it.

Quoted from TAGG

As can been seen everywhere now, this BLM thing is dividing not just football but the whole of society.

There are a lot of angry people out there who just want to get on with there lives and are sick to flipping death of all this excrement being pushed down there throat.

But it’s not being pushed down anyone’s throat and it’s in support of anti racism not BLM. These things are common knowledge so why the anger?

Quoted from Vance Warner

But it’s not being pushed down anyone’s throat and it’s in support of anti racism not BLM. These things are common knowledge so why the anger?

Because people are sick to death of others telling them that they are racist and being  told you have to conform with our opinion because its the only one.
Let people get on with there lives and enjoy football again.

At one time I would be proper excited about a big Tournament  involving England but now don't give a intercourse because its not now about football.

Mods
PLEASE STOP THIS THREAD AND PUT IT IN THE flipping BIN NOW.

Quoted from TAGG

As can been seen everywhere now, this BLM thing is dividing not just football but the whole of society.

There are a lot of angry people out there who just want to get on with there lives and are sick to flipping death of all this excrement being pushed down there throat.

And there a lot of black people who are sick to f***ing death of being racially abused. You can turn your TV off. They can't turn the racism off.

Just out of interest, do the England cricket or rugby teams take the knee, or is it just a football thing?