I tend to agree, but when do you think it should / could stop? Racism will no doubt diminish over time, but like rape and murder the best we can hope for is to minimise it. So do we take the knee for 1,5,10,100 years or forever.
Unless we can honestly answer that question then I think we have just created another set of problems in our search for a solution. Racists and the far right will feed on this ideological weakness and twist it to serve their agenda
I think certain people (the racists, bigots and those leaning towards the far right) just want it to go away.
But not go away in an ''we've eradicated racism'' way, but more a 'swept under the rug' type go away.
A return of the status quo, if you will.
I think every sane person knows that footballers kneeling isn't gonna stop racism, and in truth trying to stop racism is likely, and very sadly, impossible in most of our lifetimes. It's just something you have to hope will subside over time, with every generation doing their bit to stamp it out.
What the kneeling does do, is it keeps an important topic on the agenda. The last 12 months involving kneeling has probably done more to keep the problem in the spotlight than Kick It Out has done in however many years they have been around.
I saw an interview with Sterling yesterday, and he talked about the importance of having difficult conversations.
If some footballers taking a knee for a few seconds makes someone feel uncomfortable then I don't think that's a bad thing.
For a select few, it's making them uncomfortable enough to boo, so at least it's easy to spot the bigots.
The footballers could sack off the kneeling for next season and I'm sure many won't be fussed either way. If they wanna keep doing it then great, and if they wanna knock it on the head that's also fine.
Whatever happens, I think it has sent out a powerful message over the recent months, and it's great to see footballers more empowered to speak out and confront issues that selected people are happy to turn a blind eye to.
After that infamous Chelsea game a couple of years back when Sterling called out the media (IE the odious Sun and Mail) for fuelling racism, that felt like an important marker was set down. All too often footballers get criticised for being airheads or living in their own little rich world, yet here was one of our own taking the fight to the tabloids and it was fantastic to see.
If this whole kneeling thing (regardless of when it ends) inspires another generation of footballers/supporters/people to be more socially aware, to feel like they can call things out, then I think it has been a success, and if it pisses off a few racists on the way then all the better.
