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© Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Premier League players to continue taking a knee this season
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108 Comments
Alfie Noakes
Kick It Out has been England's equality and inclusion in football organisation since 1993. It's funded by the Premier League, the FA, The PFA and Sky.
https://www.kickitout.org/
They work very hard and do a terrific job. Have a read of the website.
Commodore Perry
Premier League players will continue to take a knee before games during the 2021-22 season in an anti-racism gesture.
The UK really needs to come to grips with its long history of deep in-grown racism problem.
Commodore Perry
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the league has had “a long-standing commitment” to fight racism.
Let's hope actions are stronger than words. This prevalent racism in the UK needs to be stopped--it goes under the radar and this is a good chance for the countries of the UK to acknowledge their long history of slavery and racism, and finally deal with it accordingly.
Kaerimashita
A handful of fans and online trolls are loons and racist and generally nasty. Eventually the liklihood of ever achieving "zero racism" needs to be accepted. Suggesting this is a widespread issue just turns people off who know better.
Commodore Perry
People know better that racism is not a widespread issue?
Oh, that resolves it.
Jimizo
Very noble. The walls need to close in on racism.
What exactly do you want the UK to do? You said ‘deal with’? Could you nail that down?
As a huge football fan, what do you think the football community can do to help?
ClippetyClop
In other words, 'I'm desperately trying to make your country look more racist than mine'
Jimizo
You get that sense given the lack of concrete ideas, it’s just emotional. Bordering on hysterical.
Commodore Perry
ClippetyClopToday 12:19 pm JST
Interesting attempt to deflect.
JimizoToday 12:22 pm JST
Another deflection--more of a hissy fit though.
Jimizo
Not at all. I’m afraid you are clearly avoiding answering the question.
I’m just interested in your use of ‘deal with’ and ‘resolve’.
What do you want them to do?
You obviously have very strong anti-racist feelings given how much you post on this issue, and you have a particular interest in racism in the UK.
Surely you’ve come up with ideas to ‘deal with’ or ‘resolve’ the issue. Otherwise, it’s just emotional.
It’s just whining.
Paustovsky
@Commodore Perry.
I agree. Much more can be done about racism in the UK.
Please suggest what else we can do ?
Commodore Perry
PaustovskyToday 12:43 pm JST
Everything the US is trying to do, except for the violent protests, cancel culture, and teaching of CRT.
The UK is not that far behind the US in bettering the rights of its minorities, so it has the chance to do a better job than the US.
Paustovsky
@Commodore Perry.
Thank you for your reply.
I am not American so I am unaware what the US is trying to do to improve its structural racism.
Againc can you tell me so I can make a comparison ?
Commodore Perry
zichiToday 12:53 pm JST
Who introduced slavery into what is now the USA? Forgot your history?
zichiToday 12:53 pm JST
Hilarious after reading what a Brit just wrote about America and slavery and racism. Was that on purpose? Well-done!!
Jimizo
Who are ‘they’?
What do you want them to do to ‘deal with’ and ‘resolve’ the issue?
You said ‘deal with it accordingly’. What does this entail? Words alone won’t deal with it. They won’t ‘resolve’ the problem.
You are very low on substance but high on emotion. It’s hysterical.
I like practical things
Commodore Perry
JimizoToday 12:59 pm JST
Thanks for all the emotional questions. They seem pretty basic. How come you don't have any answers?
TheDalaiLamasBifocals
My cousin played for England and a Premier league team.
The amount of abuse they get for the stands is unreal.
I know people say they are well paid, but they are well paid because the sport makes money.
They don't get extra money for putting up with abuse from dickhead fans.
And on top of that players from minorities get racial abuse? Feck off.
If you are against players kneeling before a match for a few seconds to protest racism, then maybe you should re-examine your own views.
Commodore Perry
TheDalaiLamasBifocalsToday 01:05 pm JST
That is horrible. I hope more people pay attention to the message from the kneeling players
zichiToday 01:09 pm JST
Did you read TheDalaiLamasBifocals post?
And Britain had a slavery tradition for over 200 years! Incredible. Almost as long as the US has been a country.
So Britain has had almost 500 years to come to grips with its slavery tradition.
Commodore Perry
zichiToday 01:56 pm JST
Admiral Sir John Hawkins of Plymouth, a notable Elizabethan seafarer, is widely acknowledged to be "the Pioneer of the English Slave Trade". In 1554–1555,
Moderator
Back on topic please.
Commodore Perry
United striker Marcus Rashford was among the Black players for England who were subjected to racist abuse online after they missed penalty kicks in the decisive European Championship shootout against Italy.
One of the saddest days in British sports.
Incredible this goes on in 2021.
Iron Lad
Kneeling is a sign of submission.
Better spend more money and help black people instead of kneeling, which costs zero money and is meaningless.
Jimizo
Yes, the police have clamped down on this a lot. It was shocking in the 1970s and 1980s in particular. The stuff shouted at the likes of Cyrille Regis and Viv Anderson was appalling. It wasn’t as bad as some of the stuff I heard from racists in Texas when I was there in the 1990s, but it was disgusting nevertheless. Cameras around the stadium and other people reporting it has a lot to do with it.
Great, practical steps taken by the UK to acknowledge the problem and attempt to stamp it out.
More to be done.
Commodore Perry
JimizoToday 02:14 pm JST
Texas in the 90s? Well, we are talking about the UK in 2021. Sad nothing has been learned in over 30 years though.
zichiToday 02:18 pm JST
The plane crash was over 60 years ago. Most posters here weren't around then. It must be nice to live in the past, but we are talking about racism in the UK, in UK sports, in 2021.
I am surprised British posters especially are not outraged.
Commodore Perry
Don't feed it!
Jimizo
Calm down. I was saying that I saw worse racism in Texas in the 1990s than I saw in the UK in the 70’s and 80’s. Just a point of comparison.
If you read my post again, you’ll find I explain the difference between racism in football in the UK in the 70s/80s and now. It has improved. This is clear. Still more to be done.
Racism acknowledged. Practical steps taken. Improvement shown. More to be done.
I think the walls are closing in on your narrative.
Commodore Perry
JimizoToday 02:38 pm JST
My point is instead of deflecting the narrative, and falling back on attacking the US, just step up to the plate and discuss the issue as it is--racism in the UK. I don't think anyone here will attack you for commenting on it. This is a relatively safe space.
But it is good the UK is making positive steps.
And as I have been advocating, there needs to be more acknowledgement of racism in the UK, instead of directing all the attention to the US.
It's like bandaging the thumb on one finger, and hiding the other hand behind your back as your pinkie bleeds.
Jimizo
What level of acknowledgment do you want to see ( this is incredibly vague on your part )? Make it clear.
I’m a practical person.
What concrete steps to you want to see? This is the meat of the point.
Just give us a few points. You do have points on this, don’t you?
It would be bizarre to talk about ‘deal with’ and ‘resolve’ if you had no practical ideas.
Commodore Perry
JimizoToday 02:54 pm JST
Being defensive only propagates the problem.
There is an entire article here to comment on, instead of asking vague, baseless questions about my easy to understand comments.
But at least I accomplished my goal.
I hope more Brits adopt the same attitude as the league:
The league said Tuesday it “wholeheartedly supported” the decision and confirmed that players and match officials will also continue to wear “No Room For Racism” badges on their shirts.
Jimizo
Oh, dear boy, that’s naive.
That’s not going to ‘deal with’ or ‘resolve’ it.
Paustovsky
@Commodore Perry
I salute your support for all efforts being made to eradicate institutional and structural racism in the UK.
Your comments come across as entirely sincere and not in the slightest bit disingenuous.
Commodore Perry
JimizoToday 03:12 pm JST
Neither are those kind of vacuous remarks.
But glad I got the attention of some Brits here who up to now have been reticent to confront the realities of racism in the UK, and instead try and deflect the commentary. or become emotional and defensive.
Hope you can follow Man United's lead.
Manchester United players issued their own statement, saying they “fully support” the league-wide decision.
Commodore Perry
PaustovskyToday 03:14 pm JST
Thank you Paustovsky
Jimizo
Yes, one thing I do like about most Brits is their ability to self-deprecate and be honest about their negative points. They are quite good on the self-awareness scale in general. I have come across some who are more childish and emotional and see any negative comment about a country as an expression of hate. Useless.
Anyway, let’s hope the brighter, more mature and practical minds will be put to use to improve the situation. Older heads can be useful here.
Jimizo
As a Kopite and a Scouser, Zichi knows his football and has watched it for longer than most of us.
As I said, older heads ( I hope he doesn’t mind me saying that ) are useful here. A bit of perspective and a knowledge of how things have improved.
Commodore Perry
Most Brits I know are very aware of current events and open minded and outspoken. Here though, a select few are extremely emotional, and defensive whenever they perceive someone is attacking their country. Sad.
Especially when these type of racist issues arise, one would think the Brits here would confront the issue head on, instead of trying to deflect the narrative or, more incredibly, to deny history.
But one positive outcome is that it becomes easy to identify those who are just trawling these pages.
And one more thanks to :
PaustovskyToday 03:14 pm JST
Commodore Perry
zichiToday 04:39 pm JST
Something to be proud of? Very un-British.
Why bring irrelevant comments here? Off topic.
In Kansai, you can buy 100% ground beef. Always buy several packets when I see them
Commodore Perry
zichiToday 06:00 pm JST
In America we call it soccer.
lostrune2
With the way some English fans behaved in the Euro, they need to keep doing it
Obviously some English fans haven't learned their lesson yet
maxjapank
I'm very happy to hear this. Would be nice to see this happen more in other countries, too.
Jimizo
I agree to a point. Having lived in both, I think the UK is behind the more progressive, educated, first-world states of the US but ahead of the more third-world ones on this score. Given your fierce anti-racist views, I see you more in the progressive, liberal, wine spritzer-drinking, educated column. More Kinokuniya than Costco.
Some might unkindly call your fierce anti-racism virtue-signaling, but I see it as sincere.
The UK has its variations, but my experience of living in the south of the US allowed me to see something truly backward on views of race. Worse than anything I’d ever seen in the UK.
A mixed bag.
A good point though. Worthy of discussion. This is much better.
Jimizo
This is the backwardness I was talking about, but Commodore Perry is taking the high, liberal, progressive ground here.
That is the US standard he’s holding up.
You could argue he’s covering the blemishes ( Fox News type knuckle dragging ) but perhaps we should judge the US on the standard of the more civilized, educated, perhaps even elitist America when talking about racism.
I’m prepared to do that.
Fighto!
Good for them.
If taking the knee infuriates, upsets and angers people (ie racists and bigots), long may it last.
As we all saw during Euro 2021, there is still a lot of racism and hatred toward Black players.
Kick Racism Out!
Strangerland
Interesting perspective. It makes sense. America is not a unified monolith but essentially two opposing cultures. It’s how a black man could be elected president, while the banks still make it harder for black people to get home loans.
bass4funk
Very true.
Racism definitely wasn't born in the US, talk about pathetic.....
bass4funk
Why is it that Brits are just overly pompous in their sarcastic cynisim? We really don't care how Brits or Europeans judge us, it's not like they can do anything to change us, they can be whomever they want to be, so shall we, thanks.
ClippetyClop
It's what we're good at. That and self-loathing.
I could ask why is that Americans are overly arrogant in their non-sarcastic optimism. Again, it's what they are good at.
Strangerland
Hmm, which group of Americans do you suppose the American who made the above comment belongs to?
bass4funk
I never did and never will.
No, I’m just proud of my country of what it is and what it has done to uplift and bring and help millions despite it now being perfect still the greatest democracies on the planet.
Happy Day
Crapchat- agree 100%. In the U.S. this is called virtue signaling. Practiced by some of the most racist people like Hollywood, media, politicians, elites, etc. Cheap gestures to try to show they are decent people.
Jimizo
I see.
We can see what you are against.
So what practical steps to you recommend to deal with racism?
Xulux
These are positive steps taken by these teams, but I did not see where it says that the league is endorsing those teams and their players in this movement, which it should.
It is good, to see such activism in UK sports, as the UK recently has been showing solidarity with the US on many racially charged matters.
Especially because the UK has played a leading role in the oppression of black people.
Jimizo
I think the walls are closing in on racism though…
John Noun
It should definitely be continued. Good luck to the whole movement.
mmwkdw
I whole-heartidly agree with :
“Racist abuse in any form on any platform cannot be tolerated and together we must keep fighting it,"
However when you're at a football match between two opposing teams, the amount of hateful words being uttered against the opposing team & their supporters - way far surpasses those against a person of color in the team.
So, I think there's two types of "Racism" - That said, the old saying "Sticks and Stones can break by bones, but words can't harm me" should still ring true - Racism that involves physical action should be absolutely not tolerated one bit and come down upon hard. Casual Verbal racism, like using the "N" word, just as is often heard by uttered by "Blacks" in Movies - should that fall under the Racism banner ? (I don't think so)
If a group of skin-heads taunt a colored family in the street, blocking their way, and shouting the "N" word at them - should that be Racism ? (I think this would be, as there was threatening behavior involved)
If an old guy recounting a War story, referred to his Colored colleagues with a fondly recalled N word phrase, would that be Racism ? (I don't think so)
And what about the BLM movement within Africa itself ? Well.. let's probably not go to that discussion, as I guess the BLM idea is mainly focused upon equality within non-black countries. But what about other inequalities within those same Counties - Female Lives Matter, LGBT Lives matter, etc.
There is a common underlying complaint within all of these groups - Equality.... so going back to "Football" - why don't the Female Football players get paid the same as their Male Counterparts - surely there is an "Equality" matter there that needs addressing ?
ReynardFox
As others have pointed out, go Google Kick It Out. Just because you can’t be bothered to look up the action footballs have taken doesn’t mean they haven’t taken any. It’s like all those people who are convinced Colin Kaepernick has done nothing but kneel, despite him having donated millions to anti-racism causes.
bass.exe is a bit late to the party. Simone probably forgot to boot it up this morning. But hey, I’m sure all those Central American death squads, Iranian monarchs, afghani Taliban, South American dictators, narco-paramilitaries, and private mercenaries are thankful for the uplifting. After all, what’s a few million civilian casualties in the face of spreading ‘freedom’? Guys like these footballers and Colin Kaepernick have to kneel cuz apparently the UK and the US aren’t as good at uplifting as they claim.
Sven Asai
Kneeling, what for? What does that bring anyone here or there? With their money I could change a whole hungry African village into a super developing hub, shining into the whole neighboring regions.
MiaSanMia
Pointless virtue signaling here we go again. Utter hypocrisy when players (ex. Dele Alli, Dembele easily come to mind) themselves are being racists and yet they take the knee to protest against what again??? The whole circus of arresting fans and getting people fired for posting monkey emojis or racist statements only further highlights the double standards. I don’t see players being fired or arrested for posting racist contents (bearing in mind they have way more eyes reading their posts). One wonders is it money and status at work here or the fact that those players are of a ‘perpetually victimized race’ hence it does not fit the racism narrative….
Danielsan
Change must start at the top, for it to have real meaning.
The British Royal Family, along with an appropriate act of Parliament, should reinstate the Royal standing of Prince Harry and Princess Megan , then change the order of secession to make them next in line for the throne, then Queen Elizabeth could abdicate , giving the Commonwealth their first non white ruler, Queen Megan!
thetoleratedone
Arsenal forever. Always multicultural.
Commodore Perry
"We need to keep demonstrating that message — now more than ever. We hope these actions continue to have an impact and lead to positive change, especially with fans back supporting us in the stadium.
This is what the UK needs. Keep pressure on the UK public to confront head on racism.
Remember Mark Duggan and the 2011 riots.
Commodore Perry
zichiToday 03:25 pm JST
Whether the Brits were overseas or at home when they posted does not disguise the fact the UK society is filled with racism. Let's not try and deflect from the point of the article and discussion.
Remember Stephen Lawrence.
Jimizo
Hysterical.
Yet more examples of the UK acknowledging racism and taking practical steps. Great stuff.
More taking of the knee and parading anti-racist messages needed, eh?
A bit wokey on your part, but it can’t do any harm.
We all do. It was a rare event. Tragic, sickening and horrific, but thankfully rare.
That kind of event is much more common is certain other countries.
Sickening.
Do you think taking the knee and wearing anti-racist slogans could help?
Commodore Perry
Racial injustices and ingrained inequalities are apparent in UK society, sports, and is evident in workplaces.
To root out racism, owners of sport teams and employers need to critically appraise their organizational culture from top to bottom and address racism at a systemic level by looking at where it is embedded in their own organizations.
And individuals should engage in similar self-reflection.
Commodore Perry
It is sad many miss the simple points here; too much CNN.
Commodore Perry
zichiToday 06:46 pm JST
The US is only 245 yers old.
See? That is what more people need to do. Admit and confront the existence of racism head on.
Commodore Perry
zichiToday 06:53 pm JST
Americans have zero interest--that is why there are more teams in Major League Soccer in the US the there are teams in the Premier League.
And attendance at some of the games in the US outnumbers that at Premier League games,
Finally, soccer is played by roughly 4 times as many Americans as Brits.
I guess all those numbers add up to zero interest.
zichiToday 06:46 pm JST
Then you would know Liverpool is owned by an American company.
Commodore Perry
zichiToday 07:34 pm JST
Really? 335 is huge; there are only about 400 American born players in Major League Baseball. How many UK-born players in MLB? 0?
There are only about 20 Europeans playing in MLS. Most foreigners are from Central or South America.
I guess the 50 Americans playing professionally in Europe are earning pensions too.
But that is the difference with the US and UK fans--Americans don't care where the players are from, because we are interested in the game, not in clinging to provincialism.
Commodore Perry
zichiToday 08:25 pm JST
Nah.
zichiToday 08:33 pm JST
So? You're not from Europe. But is sounds like there are more players in MLS than in the Premier League huh?
Jimizo
Spectacularly inaccurate. Astounding.
Ask Arsenal fans ( or anyone else ) who some of the best and most loved Arsenal players of all time are. Almost all will mention Henry ( French ), Bergkamp ( Dutch ), Viera ( French ).
Man U fans - Ronaldo ( Portuguese ), Keane ( Irish ), Schmeichel ( Danish ), Cantona ( French ).
Man City - Silva ( Spanish ), De Bruyne ( Belgian ), Yaya Toure ( Ivorian ), Aguero ( Argentinian ).
Liverpool - Suarez ( Uruguayan ), Salah ( Egyptian ), Mane ( Senegalese ), Van Dijk ( Dutch ).
Chelsea - Zola ( Italian ), Drogba ( Ivorian ), Hazard ( Belgian ), Essien ( Ghanaian ).
I can keep going through almost all premier league teams here but that should be enough to shoot down your point.
Commodore Perry
JimizoToday 08:47 pm JST
Incredible statement in light of the long-time racism in soccer as a whole in Europe and the UK!
First, we got your fellow Brit even against foreign ownership:
Second, this happened in the Premier League this year as per this article:
United striker Marcus Rashford was among the Black players for England who were subjected to racist abuse online after they missed penalty kicks in the decisive European Championship shootout against Italy.
Your point is destroyed.