It’s happened again. Another pillar of the New Normal has failed to survive first contact with the enemy. In the solace of empty stadia, the ritual of ‘taking the knee’ has been introduced, and had been carried on in such a way as to present itself as a permanent fixture. What’s more, the ritual, which is treated with religious reverence, was introduced without consultation, or consent. Yet those upon whom it has been thrust were expected to glibly participate in the ceremony of subservience. But as usual, ordinary people are the only one’s smart enough to burst the bubble, to tell the Emperor that he has no clothes on, and to say ‘boo’. This quiet rebellion, widely billed as ‘shocking’, was everything but.
Booing did not only occur at the Millwall V Derby game, thought that became the focal point, but also at Colchester V Grimsby and reportedly at West Ham V Man U. Subsequently the establishment lined up to condemn Millwall for booing their players taking to their knees on the pitch. The elite of the football world including pundits, players and FIFA officials, to celebrities and cultural influencers, and even senior political figures, like the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer have all piled on to condemn this dreadful heresy. It’s notable that these people would never have lined up to defend ‘Occupy Wall Street’ to give just one example, because that movement actually threatened bankers and institutional power in a real way. They are enormously comfortable defending BLM however, because its only real cost is in demoralising mostly powerless working-class people. Every major corporation can absorb the rhetoric and branding of BLM without being structurally compromised. BLM is simply agitprop pointing its fingers at people with ‘privilege’ while being endorsed and supported by Hollywood, big business, and the political establishment.
This as evidenced by Sir Keir Starmer, who came out on Twitter to declare his opposition to the booing:
‘Footballers are using their platform to oppose racism and discrimination. We are with them every step of the way.’
It’s truly amazing that given the opportunity to side with the masses of working-class fans, the very kind of people who used to vote for the Labour party, Keir proudly declares he is on the side of the football players. The top 1%. And let us not kid ourselves that this is about racism; this rebellion is against an attempt to compel working class people to tolerate a gesture of subservience which is explicitly associated with burning the Union Flag atop the Cenotaph and defunding the police. They have every right to call it out.
Every arm of the establishment has been at work to attack and defame the fans who exercised their rights to freedom of expression. One can’t help but be reminded of the Wigan fan, Jake Hepple, who was made excomunnicado and unpersoned, alongside his girlfriend, for flying a ‘white lives matter’ banner. Major football players of past and present are having their condemnation amplified by major outlets. Television news is putting on trial those who dared speak out and blaspheme BLM. Celebrities are accusing all dissenters of racism in the Twittersphere. Compare and contrast with how the BBC, for example, chose to cover BLM over this summer when BLM attacked the Cenotaph and assaulted police:
How might they have reported on Millwall fans simply booing? Well, as follows:
The state funded BBC, which you must pay for on pain of imprisonment, at your service. This in reporting on a movement whose founders called whites subhuman, and expressed a desire to enslave them. 55% of people believe BLM has served to exacerbate racial tensions in this country, with only 17% of those polled disagreeing, yet it has the full blooded endorsement of every institution in the nation, bar the government, who in their cowardice turn a blind eye. Dawn French, is set to revive her role as the Vicar of Dibley in a Christmas special, which will see viewers lectured on the virtue of BLM. The lunatics are now officially running the asylum, when liberal comedians who have made a career out of mocking the official state religion are set to co-opt the birthday of Jesus of Nazareth to warn us of blaspheming against BLM, and there is no one with power willing to critique it. There is a stricter purview on blasphemy against BLM, than there is against Christianity. It is truly beyond belief. British people have a proud history of standing up, from the Peasants Revolt, to the Chartists, to the March for Jobs. It’s no surprise they don’t want to see their heroes on their knees.
Millwall 1–0 Establishment
