LeightON in the Game
Black Lives Matter Bigots Bring Unfair Shame on Our Club!
By Leighton Evans
With things going so well on the pitch right now our Editor swears he saw a smile on the face of our resident Mr Misery. But Evans the Ever Miserable vehemently denies this and the bee he has in his bonnet over an off field issue tends to support this denial. Our crusty columnist sets his sights on some racists in the latest instalment of Leight-ON in the Game…….
In the last few weeks, I’ve stumbled across a great new YouTube channel that shows old footage of the Swans from the 80s and 90s. It’s a glorious amble down memory lane – paltry crowds, scabby goals, polyester-tastic kits and an intangible awe at my favourite era of being a Swans fan.
However, there is a dark side to this glory. We may forget now a quarter of a century on, but the Swans were, in the mid-90s, very often an absolute laughing stock.
Kevin Cullis, that weirdo Thompson fella, 7-0 at Fulham, Mickey Adams, crowds of a couple of thousand, on and on.
Looking back now, it was funny at the time and retains a certain kind of grim, fascinating humour today. It’s no fun being a laughing stock though, having the finger pointed at your club and being a bit embarrassed to say the least.
All this took place many years before the advent of social media, and the affordances that media gives to supporters of other clubs to royally take the p*ss when your club messes up or something embarrassing is attached to the club.
Of course, this cuts both ways. Which one of us has not spent hours trolling Cardiff City fans after every one of their constant, hilarious humiliations? That activity makes up about 80% of my 23,000 tweets.
Occasionally though, it is activity on social media and the backlash it creates that casts your own club in a less than favourable light. I refer here to the specimens that have been parking up outside the Liberty to boo the taking of the knee before matches.
These clowns (I refuse to dignify them by using their Twitter handles or mentioning their pathetic YouTube channel and content), who in normal times would be bulk buying plasters for their knuckles but who have been given more opportunity to be annoying imbeciles by lockdown, have brought a focus on the club through no fault of the club at all.
This is not the manager walking out in a fortnight, no. The club is not responsible for this brand of humiliation. However, in the age of social media there is a humiliating aspect to this reprehensible behaviour.
Reprehensible? Yes, that’s what I said.
Despite the pathetic non-sensical dribblings of members of this group that they are not racist, and are instead protesting ‘Marxism’, this is behaviour motivated clearly by a distaste for social justice and equality.
It is worth remembering that the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and the BLM political organisation are not one and the same.
Additionally, the idea that there is a need to watch out for Marxism in football is frankly hilarious to this University Lecturer that has been teaching Marxism in some form or another for 20 years.
If you want to point to an organisation that roundly rejects Marxist economic and political principles, a football club in the top two divisions in this country would be just about the best example I could think of pointing towards.
I do not doubt that taking the knee is a political gesture, and there are some that argue that politics and sport should not mix. However, when people criticise this peaceful gesture as politically motivated, they forget that sport and politics are always hand in hand and anyone that thinks otherwise is deluding themselves.
Don’t agree? I expect we’ll never see a politician trying to make political capital from sporting success that had nothing to do with them ever again then. That’ll be nice.
There is a history of politics and sport interlocking that goes back to the codification of the rules and laws of the sports we love, and it’s not changing any time in the future. The more interesting question is what politics are being ‘protested’ against.
The decision of these people to boo outside the ground is perhaps not as egregious as the booing at Millwall, Colchester and Cambridge in recent times, but the blowback and bad publicity for the club has been damaging.
let's analyse what is being booed...
The decision to take the knee before matches was initially made by Premier League captains during Project Restart, to show solidarity with Black people facing discrimination globally.
This symbol of solidarity has been a representation of the players’ commitment to anti-racism and is not an endorsement of any political position.
It is an act of unity that highlights a persistent and systemic issue in society, which affects many players that play the game.
When Swansea players are taking a knee, they are not only illustrating their commitment to rejecting racism but also, in some cases, showing solidarity with their teammates against systemic racism in society. Players supporting other players.
When this gesture, overwhelmingly supported as a continuing act of solidarity by PFA members, is booed then what exactly is being booed?
It’s not some notion of cultural Marxism, itself a blatantly anti-Semitic concept that originated out of the darkest recesses of the internet. What is being booed is the players of your own team performing a gesture for a sentiment towards racism that they believe in, and supporting teammates, friends and family in this gesture.
Of course, that is really what was going on with these pathetic gestures outside the ground. These are people that are not opposed to racism. They are also unlikely to be actual Swansea supporters, although that is a different issue.
What they have done is damage the image of our club.
Should taking the knee still be a gesture performed by our players when we can finally return to the club, those that are minded to boo this gesture might keep a few things in mind. You are damaging the club. You are damaging and disrespecting our players. You are beneath contempt.
It is this which has the potential to increase the spotlight on the club – through no fault of their own – and reduce us into something more intense than a 90s laughing-stock, as accusations fly across the traditional and social media about our supporters and club being a haven for racism and far-right activity.
The club itself is largely powerless to do much about this, but they will bear the brunt of the unwanted attention. It would be nice to think that people could support our players and their wishes, even if they are not, like me, supporters of the same social justice campaign.
As supporters of the club, just think about the effect though. There is a lot I don’t like about modern football, but I don’t go around booing the rotating advertising hoardings or executive suites.
Taking the knee is part of modern football, and has the support of players. Why boo your own team?
