Gareth Southgate's strong message after some supporters booed when England players take the knee [Gazette]

While most people agree with the message [let's stand against Racism] it's what happens after that is the problem-- we applaud, take the knee and watch the game, and while some people boo -- [you can't disregard their honesty and probable ignorance] the message is basically is that the FA is taking the stand not necessarily the people in the stands, or those watching on tv. Perhaps what I'd like to see is some sort of preamble before the game which gives all people of colour the focus of the reason for the knee and why the players are doing this because clearly this is what is missing. As far as the BLM movement is concerned there has been a lot of rhetoric both from the website and their organisation lately which has probably led to why many people [all colours] who are skeptical of the BLM's movements message.
 
breakthewallsdown said:
Would be uproar also if people turned their back.
Click to expand...

Might be crazy this I know but maybe just sit down. That's what I do with the national anthem. No need to do anything if you disagree with it. I honestly don't see the complexity that many seem to. It's a gesture to promote racial equality. Any right minded person agrees with that sentiment. You don't have to boo it if you have some spurious reason not to agree with the gesture. All you have to do is sit down and STFU.
 
Expat Smoggie said:
Perhaps what I'd like to see is some sort of preamble before the game which gives all people of colour the focus of the reason for the knee and why the players are doing this because clearly this is what is missing.
Click to expand...
Then the cry would be "ramming it down our throats". Really people "not knowing why it is happening" is hard to comprehend, it is hardly inconspicuous or new.

breakthewallsdown said:
Would be uproar also if people turned their back.
Click to expand...
I can't see how? The majority of people in the ground very quickly drowned out the boos with applause, I doubt if anyone would have noticed the same few turning their back, certainly the players wouldn't have which was presumably the point of booing.

Oh and calling someone for apologising for racism is not the same as calling someone racist. Actually on reflection it is probably a good thing that the boos happened it has created more publicity for the issue than if it had been ignored. I just hope that when the players take the knee on Sunday it is greeted with respect. Silence if you prefer, turn your back if you like, sit down, perhaps stay on the concourse if you wish (there should be plenty of room)
Capture.JPG
Last night, west stand concourse about fifteen minutes before kick off!

But please, just STFU.
 
breakthewallsdown said:
Would be uproar also if people turned their back.
Click to expand...
Why? I honestly don't understand?
If people don't believe in BLM - for whatever reason - whether it is because they are perceived as a Marxist organisation, defaced statues or marched in Paramilitary regalia, wouldn't turning your back on the taking the knee ceremony not be better?
 
Laughing said:
I am not so sure much has changed though bm. Id like to think it has, unfortunately it was just having a little break.
Click to expand...
I think from mid 90s to about 2015 it was better, but when austerity kicked in and populism was weaponised it started to become acceptable again.

The thing is culture always flows from the top down, and the country has been very ill from a governance perspective for a decade. The good social progress was reversed, it was a decision and it has emboldened some people to be open in their racism.

There will always be a % of ****. that act that way, there will always be more that if emboldened will behave badly. We need a culture change, to get us back on track. A rejection of the cruel, me first, sociopathic culture we are mimicking from the US. It's a huge task though, turning this ship around will take time. What won't help is turning a blind eye to racism and just shrugging.
 
A very famous racist and xenophobe once accused a sports star of disrespecting the national anthem because he was kneeling to raise awareness of racial injustice. That players career was basically ended at that moment.
You'd have to be pretty desperate to try and explain away the booing as being totally politically motivated when the fact of the matter is that racial abuse is rife and is actually getting worse because of the rise of authoritarian leaders around the world and the emboldening of racism under the guise of their doctrines.
 
Muttley said:
Then the cry would be "ramming it down our throats". Really people "not knowing why it is happening" is hard to comprehend, it is hardly inconspicuous or new.


I can't see how? The majority of people in the ground very quickly drowned out the boos with applause, I doubt if anyone would have noticed the same few turning their back, certainly the players wouldn't have which was presumably the point of booing.

Oh and calling someone for apologising for racism is not the same as calling someone racist. Actually on reflection it is probably a good thing that the boos happened it has created more publicity for the issue than if it had been ignored. I just hope that when the players take the knee on Sunday it is greeted with respect. Silence if you prefer, turn your back if you like, sit down, perhaps stay on the concourse if you wish (there should be plenty of room)
View attachment 19464
Last night, west stand concourse about fifteen minutes before kick off!

But please, just STFU.
Click to expand...
b****d!
I’ve just got withdrawal symptoms seeing the concourse!
 
The Media is promoting the Race issue..
The obviously want it in your thinking for the long term..
To Divide and conquor everyone..
Had I been there I would have booed Southgates Tactics
With all the talent at his disposal he is still Mr Negative..

Thanks to Talksports treatment of Steve Mclaren and others
no-one can say a word against the current regime..
 
BoroMart said:
There will always be a % of ****. that act that way, there will always be more that if emboldened will behave badly. We need a culture change, to get us back on track. A rejection of the cruel, me first, sociopathic culture we are mimicking from the US. It's a huge task though, turning this ship around will take time. What won't help is turning a blind eye to racism and just shrugging.
Click to expand...
Yep! My partner is mixed race and we've had a few "episodes" when we've been out and about, but we never back down - no matter what. What we've found is that these ar******s are few and far between and generally, people tend to be very supportive when it kicks off
 
dooderooni said:
A very famous racist and xenophobe once accused a sports star of disrespecting the national anthem because he was kneeling to raise awareness of racial injustice. That players career was basically ended at that moment.
You'd have to be pretty desperate to try and explain away the booing as being totally politically motivated when the fact of the matter is that racial abuse is rife and is actually getting worse because of the rise of authoritarian leaders around the world and the emboldening of racism under the guise of their doctrines.
Click to expand...
and lets be honest mate, racism has become a political tool, hating on BLM has become a political tool. Those footballers were making a statement about equality, I'd bet some of those in the stands booing were making a statement about rejection of right wing politics because they perceive anti-racism to be a leftist policy. Maybe THEY should keep politics out of it? 🤷‍♂️
 
BoroMart said:
and lets be honest mate, racism has become a political tool, hating on BLM has become a political tool. Those footballers were making a statement about equality, I'd bet some of those in the stands booing were making a statement about rejection of right wing politics because they perceive anti-racism to be a leftist policy. Maybe THEY should keep politics out of it? 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
It's political for the politicians to meet their own ends, for the vast majority of the general public it's just them being racist with a few being racist and using the political excuse as a cover.
 
BoroMart said:
I think from mid 90s to about 2015 it was better, but when austerity kicked in and populism was weaponised it started to become acceptable again.

The thing is culture always flows from the top down, and the country has been very ill from a governance perspective for a decade. The good social progress was reversed, it was a decision and it has emboldened some people to be open in their racism.

There will always be a % of ****. that act that way, there will always be more that if emboldened will behave badly. We need a culture change, to get us back on track. A rejection of the cruel, me first, sociopathic culture we are mimicking from the US. It's a huge task though, turning this ship around will take time. What won't help is turning a blind eye to racism and just shrugging.
Click to expand...
Let me explain the reason that I believe racism never went away and never got better, although I agree it seemed to. Racists aren't born they are made. No child is born a racist. It is societal influences that create racism. I suspect the single biggest factor in a person becoming racist is their parents. For 10 or 20 years things seemed to be moving in the right direction. That was only ever a veneer. Shutting a racist up isn't ending racism. There must always have been this huge pool of racists willing to bring their kids up racist, willing to listen to and be influenced by racists. That has never changed.

I don't accept that this government or austerity created a new wave of racist recruits, they just gave them a voice.
 
Plazmuh said:
The Media is promoting the Race issue..
The obviously want it in your thinking for the long term..
To Divide and conquor everyone..
Had I been there I would have booed Southgates Tactics
With all the talent at his disposal he is still Mr Negative..

Thanks to Talksports treatment of Steve Mclaren and others
no-one can say a word against the current
Click to expand...
Yeah it's the media which leave racial slurs every single day on the social media accounts of black athletes. It's the media which boo players daring to take a knee for racial equality. It's the media which knelt on George Flloyds neck for 9minutes and ignored his cries for his mother whilst murdering him. Jesus wept...

Also I've read about a hundred thousand words absolutely slating Southgate on various comment threads, before a ball has even been kicked. The irony of you complaining you're not allowed to criticise someone whilst harshly criticising them will be lost on you obviously.
 
This thread highlights some of the real and endemic challenges we still have around genuine race equality, quite sad really but not unexpected.

As some others have said it's not very complicated unless you want to make it so, in my opinion you are either

1. racist - by booing or agreeing with those that boo.
2. non racist - by not booing and not disagreeing with the gesture.
3. Anti racist - by actively challenging those that boo and who state or show other forms of racism.

Take your pick.

We need more people to move from non racist to become anti racist and it's refreshing to see that some people on here clearly are.
 
Unfortunately I was not around today and so could not answer this question to the BBC.
But from my seat in the south east corner at the Riverside what I witnessed was the following...
Let's be clear what happened last night was on the players takling the knee a small number of England supporters started to boo. These supporters that started the reaction were England followers not local casual England fans but Engl;and fans that were starting off the main chants through the game. They were immediately drowned out by the majority and where I was that was led by local Boro based supporters. Remember the one instant where Boro players took the knee with a crowd v Bournemouth there was loud applause.
The fans that booed soon realised they did not have the support of the majority and their boos were not only drowned out but they also pretty much stopped booing because they had not carried the day.
The message loud and clear from the applause was that Teesside and England fans are with the players and against discrimination and racism. That pocket of racist England fans are in a minority and there views are need to change.
That was the message I took with me from the taking of the knee.
 
rob_fmttm said:
Unfortunately I was not around today and so could not answer this question to the BBC.
But from my seat in the south east corner at the Riverside what I witnessed was the following...
Let's be clear what happened last night was on the players takling the knee a small number of England supporters started to boo. These supporters that started the reaction were England followers not local casual England fans but Engl;and fans that were starting off the main chants through the game. They were immediately drowned out by the majority and where I was that was led by local Boro based supporters. Remember the one instant where Boro players took the knee with a crowd v Bournemouth there was loud applause.
The fans that booed soon realised they did not have the support of the majority and their boos were not only drowned out but they also pretty much stopped booing because they had not carried the day.
The message loud and clear from the applause was that Teesside and England fans are with the players and against discrimination and racism. That pocket of racist England fans are in a minority and there views are need to change.
That was the message I took with me from the taking of the knee.
Click to expand...

That’s certainly how I saw it too Rob. I was in the West Stand and the initial boos were very quickly drowned out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top