England captain Harry Kane says Premier League players should carry on taking the knee in support of the fight against racial injustice, using their profile to raise awareness of the issue.
Clubs began making the symbolic gesture before kick-off when football resumed after the coronavirus hiatus last season, and it has continued into the current campaign.
“I think we are a huge platform to share our voices across the world, to be honest,” Kane told the BBC. “Obviously we have done a lot with Black Lives Matter and taking the knee before games.
“I hear people talking about taking the knee and whether we should still be doing it, and for me, I think we should.” Kane said regular supporters were seeing the same gesture repeated every week but it was important to educate new fans.
“I think if you look around the world, you see children watching the game for the first time, seeing us all take a knee and asking their parents why — I think it’s a great chance for people to explain why,” he added.
“I think education is the biggest thing we can do. Adults can teach generations what it means, and what it means to be together and help each other, no matter what your race.” Kane was England skipper in October last year when their 6-0 Euro 2020 qualifying win over Bulgaria in Sofia was marred by racist chanting by home supporters.
“Myself, I’ve never been racially abused, I don’t know how that feels,” said the Tottenham striker. “But my role is just to be there as a captain, a team-mate and a friend.
You want to be there for them, to listen to them and talk to them. “As a player, I was embarrassed to be on that pitch and see that abuse to my friends and team-mates. I was proud of how everyone wanted to carry on and show on the pitch that we wanted to win.”
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator and a recipient of the D9112 Superstar Icon Award, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
