Raheem Sterling feels England s commitment to taking a knee at Euro 2020 and thereafter shows the gesture can still be powerful in the fight against racism despite certain fans voicing discontent.
In 2020, the Premier League lent its support to the Black Lives Matter movement after the death of George Floyd, an African American man murdered by a white police officer in the American city of Minneapolis.
Clubs wore Black Lives Matter badges on their jerseys, while players, officials and staff began to take a knee at the start of every match.
In 2021-22, clubs are generally continuing to take a knee, though there are examples of individuals opting against it – Crystal Palace s Wilfried Zaha became the first Premier League player to say he was no longer going to kneel back in February 2021, the Ivory Coast international suggesting the gesture had lost meaning.
Ever since fans began returning to stadiums after the initial lockdown in the coronavirus pandemic, taking a knee has been a topic of debate.
Some supporters have gone as far as booing players for taking part, with the justification of such reactions being that some perceive it to be a political gesture despite what players and authorities say.
England players were jeered before Euro 2020 and it was confirmed they would continue to kneel during the tournament – the online abuse of Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho after their penalty misses in the final showed there was still a fight to be fought.
The Three Lions commitment to taking a knee highlighted how this generation will not stand for such matters being swept under the carpet after a few days of outrage.
Speaking with manager Gareth Southgate to BBC Radio 4, Sterling said: How us as a team took a stance, I think the big question was, Are we going to continue doing it through the Euros? .
And I think a lot of the time when the racism comes up or something has happened, a lot of the time in football and in the majority of society, we tend to address it for that period, for that five days or that week and then we brush it under the carpet and [pretend] things are all fine now.
