aintforever

They are making the distinction because the gutter press like The Mail are picking up on the political beliefs of some of the people involved and making out the whole movement is some sort of stealth Marxist plot which is bollocks.

I don't think there is much division at all, from what I can see the vast majority of people see the gestures for what they are and are generally supportive, it was crystal clear to me why they made the gestures they did and what it meant. The idea that the PL would endorse crackpot ideas like defunding the police is laughable. The phrase "Black Lives Matter" can refer to a Twitter hashtag, a slogan, a social movement, or a loose confederation of groups advocating for racial justice. That confederation of groups contains some people with fucked up ideas of how to achieve equality, but the aim is the same and there will be many different political views within the movement. As one of their activists says: "BLM encompasses all who publicly declare that black lives matter and devote their time and energy accordingly." I fail to see how many can be against it now they have explained clearly that are not endorsing anything political. We should be applauding the players for trying to do some good for a change instead of drink driving and shagging prostitues.

It's good to see that the PL have clarified their Black Lives Matter slogan is not endorsing any particular group or anything political, Think most reasonably intelligent people knew this already though. Hopefully now the bed-wetters worried about the police being defunded etc can now stop picking holes in what is obviously a movement for good.

What are you on about? The players decided to show their support of a cause by making a gesture. They have explained in black and white what that gesture stands for (a generic statement about equality). It’s nothing political, it is basically just saying racism is bad.

Bit unless you are racist there is nothing to really disagree with in that statement.

You don’t think black people have suffered any racism issues in his country?

I doubt they would make a statement that starts “we the players, stand together” without asking the fucking players.

I guess we can only go by what they have actually said: "We, the Players, stand together with the singular objective of eradicating racial prejudice wherever it exists, to bring about a global society of inclusion, respect, and equal opportunities for All, regardless of their colour or creed. This symbol is a sign of unity from all Players, all Staff, all Clubs, all Match Officials and the Premier League #blacklivesmatter #playerstogether. I fail to see how anyone can have an issue with that statement, the fact that some do says it all really.

Maybe they all agreed in advance that it was a good idea? Unlike many on here they have probably seen their friends and colleagues on the receiving end of racial abuse first hand so don't have an issue with making a gesture against racism.

Cheers, you have to be one of my favourite posters on the subject as well. “But I’ve got a black friend” - classic that one! Up there with “but I’ve got a Michael Jackson album” or “I’m only here to protect statues”. Cracking stuff, keep it up.

Maybe if you bothered to even read what the players said: "We, the Players, stand together with the singular objective of eradicating racial prejudice wherever it exists, to bring about a global society of inclusion, respect, and equal opportunities for All, regardless of their colour or creed. This symbol is a sign of unity from all Players, all Staff, all Clubs, all Match Officials and the Premier League #blacklivesmatter #playerstogether. I will help you out, the clue is in the “singular objective” bit, and no mention of Marxism anywhere.

I think it’s obvious to anyone with half a brain that they are just showing solidarity with the Americans over the George Floyd thing and standing up against racism. Or maybe SkyTV, the Premier League and a host of other big companies have suddenly become Marxist supporters

I thought he had a great game.

I think it’s great that the lads took the knee today. It has been fantastic how the whole football community has stood together on this, ether you think the UK has a problem or not it has to be a positive. Must really get up the nose of those racists among us.

Some Jews are anti-zionists, How can you have ant-Semitic Jews?

Of course people of all colours have at some point. I think we can all agree that the history of black people and the issues they have faced in the uk is very different to that of white though.

It’s all about context though isn’t it. If we lived in a country where white people were historically used as slaves, had suffered centuries of oppression and still today were a minority suffering from racial discrimination and abuse then statements like WLM and white power would have a completely different meaning. As it stands, where we are today, statements like that are not a call for equality, they are the opposite.

More “steer clear of the Israeli/anti-Semitic hornets nest because however innocent the gutter press will only ever spin it one way”.

Man dies, woman raped and three stabbed at party that had absolutely nothing to do with BLM shock: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-53040827

This was definitely a good move by Starmer. What Long-Bailey did wasn’t even mildly anti-Semitic but he needed to send the right message.

Just looks like the sensible thing to do, don’t want any statue protectors getting beaten up again. If the white power/statue lovers want to hold their own demo they would be better off doing it on another day to save any trouble - surely that’s in everyone’s interests?

Is he actually going to get a “big money move”? Got to be agent talk surely, he’s just bang average at best.

They are all factors of course, but so is the example set by the government IMO.

The country is facing the biggest recession in history and we just spent 900k on that.

The moment Boris got up and backed that laughable eye test story the government lost all credibility with their restrictions. How they can expect anyone to take what they say seriously after that I do not know.