Ivan Toney on taking the knee...

[Jonny Ingbar]

The fractious nature of this thread ironically highlights why there is such a lack of tolerance towards the race issue.

At its heart racism is about the lack of tolerance and acceptance, which seems to be in short supply across society at the moment.

Until people are willing to challenge themselves, nothing will really change.

 

[rob_fmttm]

Taking the knee has been about seeking meaningful structural changes within football and society, from attitudes not platitudes and in positions of power and empowerment.
Starting at the bottom and filtering up as well as filtering up from the grass roots.
Many say racism will never go away. Players taking the knee are/were saying that isn't good enough to just be so dismissive. In the 21st century it is time for everyone to actively make a difference and strive to end racial prejudice.
I took a course at the Riverside in 2019. A one night course really, with club staff, players, fans and local councillors etc. Many os us took a pledge to make some change in our lives. I said I would display Show Racism The Red Card in the fanzine from then on and would try to tackle any racism on this forum.
That was my pledge.

 

[ChrisTheRed]

Oh just a wild stab in the dark

...... and some of my black friends think it's condescending and pathetic, but who am I, or you, to judge or pontificate / virtue signal ?

I suppose it depends how you define middle aged really. But I don't consider myself middle aged based on my current age.

 

[ForssAwakens]

So little point asking them what they'd propose to address it then ?

Surely a collective approach is best. If i have a problem with my wife we both approach it and find a a solution

 

[ForssAwakens]

I suppose it depends how you define middle aged really. But I don't consider myself middle aged based on my current age.

Judging by your appetite for an argument I wouldn’t either. I’d say a juvenile

 

[Andy_W]

The issue is far deeper embedded in our society than just that, for a start we have a prime minister that is openly a casual racist, what kind of example does this set to the rest of the country that racism isnt ok? Brexit has also given these people a platform to push their politics that do nothing other than create a huge racial divide between everyone. Plus the media will push stuff out to an audience of millions on a daily basis that does nothing but cause further racial tension.

No surprise that we still see racism every day, its absolutely rife in our society and whilst all of this is happening, nothing will ever change. Certainly banning the odd person from social media for a racist comment will do nothing, when you have the likes of Farage pushing his racist narrative to millions of followers every day.

Exactly this.

The biggest problem for me isn't even the racists (for now), it's the ones that deny racism exists, or deny it's massively influencing our politics.

Until it's widely recognised that there's a racism problem, and until it's clamped down on quickly and thoroughly then it will take decades to sort out.

I don't ever see anything major being done about it (although a lot gets said), so it's effectively relying on us breeding racism out, which will happen as the world becomes more integrated, but it's too slow.

Edit: For me, a lot of this problem stems from online, or the online world could be a simple place to catch these idiots. Just do an identity check for twitter and facebook accounts etc. This doesn't mean their personal details have to be public but means they could be traced by the authorities, and the authorities should automatically have permission to have access to this. If people want to do the crime, then they can do the time.

 

[ChrisTheRed]

Judging by your appetite for an argument I wouldn’t either. I’d say a juvenile

Argument or Debate.

I like a debate and others like to have it there way.

 

[jam69]

Oh just a wild stab in the dark

...... and some of my black friends think it's condescending and pathetic, but who am I, or you, to judge or pontificate / virtue signal ?

I didnt realise either of us were?

 

[Abel Tasman]

I don’t understand why it ever bothered anyone, like people genuinely got angry over some footballers taking the knee to raise awareness. The way I see it is if footballers want to take the knee then I totally back them on that, if black footballers decide that they no longer want to take the knee then we have to support that decision also. I think in this situation the white footballers/people need to stand in solidarity with black footballers and do what they want to do. I had absolutely zero issues with Boro no longer taking the knee as it was Britt that came to that decision as the captain of the team and articulated his reasons as to why.

I’ve just never understood why it bothered people in the first place.

This. People triggered by the gesture to the point of eagerly jumping on two players statements mystifies me as well.