[Irrelevant point] to stop taking the knee

Schmeichel's Cartwheel

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Well I guess it's his choice and forcing him to do it kind of ruins the message really.

That said, if I was a player (which I'm not) and was white (which I am) I personally would keep taking the knee as long as my non-white teammates still thought it was having a good impact. I don't feel qualified to make that choice.
The sensible thing to do. Unfortunately Marcos isn’t a very sensible lad, as proven by his past.

I am of course referring to his past decision to play for Bolton Wanderers. :nervous:
 

RedDevil@84

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Not sure why players make a big deal about it. It is not gonna kill you to take the knee. Regardless of whether you believe it serves the purpose or not.
Players already do lot of things that their clubs ask, even though they may not find it purposeful.

And it is weird that he would point to the badge. It doesn't serve any purpose too.
 

Noot

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The sensible thing to do. Unfortunately Marcos isn’t a very sensible lad, as proven by his past.
Can't argue with that. But one of the arguments used by the anti-kneeling sector is that players only do it because they feel pressured into it, and the people vilifying him for not wanting to do it anymore are kind of fuelling that argument. He should be vilified for causing a death in a drunk-driving accident, not for making a choice to point to something instead of kneel, however unhelpful we think that choice is.
 

harms

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I'm really not a fan of the gesture itself (it was so powerful when Kaepernick did it but for me it looks shallow without the original context) ... but when I read the arguments of those against it, be it Farage or, sadly, the whole Russian internet ( :( ), I understand that my own arguments are simply counter-productive in this case. Better that than nothing.

Seriously though, if I would've done something that got Farage's outspoken approval, I would've thought long and hard about what did I do wrong. It's the perfect litmus test.
 

FatTails

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No one is expecting a simple gesture to change the world and make a huge difference in an issue as big as racism.

But gestures are symbolic. Like flags, hand on the chest during anthem, shaking hands/bowing when greeting people, pointing to the sky when some religious player scores…

The question is, what does he achieve by not doing it? Like literally there was no pressure on him to STOP doing it, so I’m curious why stop, when the cost of continuing to do it is very low/non-existent, and the benefit of stopping is not clear.
 

Brightonian

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It's not necessarily there to be 'effective'. It's there so that no-one watching football can forget the racism still engrained into it. Because the black players receiving this horrible abuse don't get to just ignore it, so why should the rest of us?

He mustn't be forced to do it, of course. That defeats the whole object. But I hope other players don't follow suit.
 

MadMike

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Putting his personal history aside for a sec....

Is taking the knee becoming a bit performative? Perhaps, yes.

Is [Irrelevant point] right in being one of the first players to break ranks given that a) he isn't affected by racism and b) his black teammates are still taking the knee? Definitely not.

Show some support to your teammates ffs.
 

Noot

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Seriously though, if I would've done something that got Farage's outspoken approval, I would've thought long and hard about what did I do wrong. It's the perfect litmus test.
Yeah, he's like Piers Morgan or Katie Hopkins, if he starts praising your decision, you start second-guessing it.
 

Noot

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It's not necessarily there to be 'effective'. It's there so that no-one watching football can forget the racism still engrained into it. Because the black players receiving this horrible abuse don't get to just ignore it, so why should the rest of us?
It does feel like it's starting to be pointed to by certain higher-ups to distract from a lack of action in other areas. Does anyone remember what happened to Hungary after the England game where Sterling and other players got racially abused?

Not saying we should stop taking the knee but I do think we should listen to players who say it's not helping, especially black players. IIRC Zaha said something similar and everyone sort of moved on.
 

Bubz27

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I know, but of all the words he could have chosen ('common sense', 'the common people', whatever), he went with 'decency' and I really don't get that one.
Duh, it's decent to be racist.
 

Adisa

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Its completely his choice and its got to be respects. However, saying taking a knee has lost some strength but then pointing at an armband is his solution is a bit of a joke.
 

Stacks

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Losing it's effectiveness. What an absolute Muppet. Something as deeply ingrained as racism isn't going to vanish overnight. But, kids aren't born racist. If you've got the biggest most watched league spreading awareness and making generations growing up ask "why are they doing this?" and the overwhelming message from people they look up to is "because it's wrong" then these are exactly the kind of acts that the world needs to see.

Oh it hasn't "cured" racism? No shit. Is it making racism more spoken about in the media? Yes. If it empowers people to say to their friends that what they're saying or doing isn't Ok then it's worth people kneeling before a game. It's not like it takes any effort or has any single negative effect. All it has is a positive effect. How anyone can be against that baffles me.
Nah this is too simplistic and wishful thinking. Kids won't even understand the term "kneeling against racial injustice" and what it actually means. So long as their parents and people around them are racist they will be too. We could kneel for Palestine and people in Israel will still think the same of them. There have been black sportsman for years and people would love MJ but hate black men. Many wypipo will prefer to have their heads in the sand and pretend racism doesn't exist or they simply ignore it because they don't see it day to day. People also don't get their life views from sports people. that said if they want to kneel then cool. If they don't, I don't care either.
 

flappyjay

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Just make yourself the center of attention won't you. I am in agreement with what he says but It's a 10 sec kneel for heavens sake. Everyone is so determined to be different even when there is no need.
 

dal

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Who the feck does Marcus Alonso think he is, isn’t this a Black Lives Matter movement. Shouldn’t the black collective be deciding what steps to take next, I wonder if he’s ever been racially abused.

It wouldn’t surprise me if he attends the Spain games behind a monkey suit.
 

tenpoless

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If its losing its message unless if all the broadcasters + comentators decided to talk about it very loudly american style with huge image of it being shown on screens, again, american style then it wouldnt matter that much if he takes the knee or points at the badge. If its losing its message and he genuinely wants to make more impact then he can post about it on social medias every week if he should. Or maybe make a non profit organization to help with the cause or something concrete like that. Pointing at the badge and expecting to make a different impact is stupid. He is also not qualified to determine if its losing the mesage or not.
 
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Revan

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Well I guess it's his choice and forcing him to do it kind of ruins the message really.

That said, if I was a player (which I'm not) and was white (which I am) I personally would keep taking the knee as long as my non-white teammates still thought it was having a good impact. I don't feel qualified to make that choice.
As easy as that.
 

TheLord

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It is terrible to see racism in football grounds even in this day and age, but “taking the knee” cannot go on forever before every football match. Some players have been doing it (American) since 2016, IIRC.

I know it is a brilliant gesture and only takes a few seconds, but after so many months of routinely doing it, I won’t be condescending of players who prefer to support the cause in ways other than taking the knee.
 

VorZakone

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It is terrible to see racism in football grounds even in this day and age, but “taking the knee” cannot go on forever before every football match. Some players have been doing it (American) since 2016, IIRC.

I know it is a brilliant gesture and only takes a few seconds, but after so many months of routinely doing it, I won’t be condescending of players who prefer to support the cause in ways other than taking the knee.
Agreed to be honest. How long do we want to demand players to do this? 5 years? 10 years? Even a couple of non-white footballers themselves don't really see the value anymore.

I think it's more powerful to expose racist messages like a couple of footballers have done. Show these messages on social media, and have the cops deal with it.
 

devilo

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Agreed to be honest. How long do we want to demand players to do this? 5 years? 10 years? Even a couple of non-white footballers themselves don't really see the value anymore.

I think it's more powerful to expose racist messages like a couple of footballers have done. Show these messages on social media, and have the cops deal with it.
Yeah the solidarity message has been done to death now. It's about time it got feckin dealt with by the authorities and the Internet giants.