Taking the Knee?

You are a brave man for raising the subject. By saying what you say, some will unfairly imply that you are racist. Clearly ALL lives matter (black, white, yellow or whatever)and taking a knee is nothing more than a symbolic gesture that does little or nothing to tackle inherent racism which sadly does exist around the world. It will probably stop being fashionable sometime in the future only to be replaced with whatever the next cause is.

For me O2M it has absolutely nothing to do with racism. Like I’m sure you do I detest racism in any form but having to watch this ridiculous gesture before ever football match is now grating on me. Football in this country has been at the forefront of tacking racism in football and players know that. Is there more to do, of course there is but purely symbolic gestures like this are fine for one game, like a minutes applause, or a minutes silence for someone lost, like a George Floyd but this has now gone beyond what it’s trying to highlight. It’s a bit like clapping every Thursday for the NHS, great for one or two weeks to show gratitude and support but once you feel you have to do it, it becomes a chore. You may be right about it eventually running out of fashion but it’s showing no sign yet. I guarantee most of the non black players resent doing it but are too frightened to resist. Full marks to the Grand Prix drivers who didn’t do it at the weekend and there’s absolutely nothing racist about not doing it by the way. I’m afraid the Black community are in danger of alienating the other members of the community if they don’t cool this seemingly glorified attack on anything THEY consider racist like this pathetic woman athlete who was stopped with her boyfriend over the weekend and has reacted negatively and tried to play the race card on it. We really do need to get this under control and unless and until some prominent members of the black community stand up and appeal for sense this could go downhill very quickly.

Good luck with that one. 

It’s not powerful though OM, it’s just monotonous now and extremely annoying. At the same time it’s just encouraging the Black population to consider everything done to them that they don’t like is entirely down to colour, which is ridiculous. An example is this woman athlete who took great issue at being pulled over by the police despite refusing to stop when flashed, eventually doing so then speeding off when the officers got out of the van. She then has the presence of mind to have her camera phone running when she eventually did stop. Her attitude from the start was petulant and obstructive yet from what I could see the female police officer conducted herself quietly and politely under the circumstances. As far as having her baby in the car, does she not know that drug runners regularly hide drugs in child seats and objects? Surely she’s not that naive? Handcuffs are used to prevent putting hands in pockets to produce weapons. Now the police have apologised for goodness sake. The whole Black issue is like a tinder box and as I said earlier, until we have some common sense intervention from respectable and influential Black figures this is just going to accelerate. Bending the knee is just one part of a political movement and needs to be stopped immediately.

The police do have both dash cam and body footage OM but are refusing to release it. As for taking the knee, if it’s supposed to be a solemn moment with heads bowed in respect to those like GF who died in Police custody, why are most of the black players raising the fist which is surely a black power movement? Like I say this has got out of control and needs stopping now. I even see the cricketers did it before the West Indes/England test match. When is it going to be seen for what it has become, a political signal?

That’s exactly why the authorities need to stop it now OM. Ok do it once as a show of respect but doing it every game in every sport is just unacceptable. As for individuals not doing it, half of the F1 drivers refused at the weekend and weren’t ridiculed so there’s no reason why any of the ones who disagree with it in any sport and I do think that’s a lot, shouldn’t do likewise. Like I say though, the sports authorities should step in here and ensure it’s done sparingly and as a show of respect, not a political gesture and anyone raising the fist in a black power signal must be penalised. It’s just getting way out of hand now and needs curtailing. Problem is none of them have any spine and don’t want to be seen as racist. Absolutely ridiculous.