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Aston Villa defender resolute in his country’s continued protest despite backlash from some, including government ministers
England center-back Tyrone Mings is confused over UK Home Secretary Priti Patel’s lack of support for players who kneel down to protest racism.
The kneeling gesture became known around the world thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement following the murder of George Floyd, and England players continue to do so before every game.
After a full Premier League season where footballers knelt before matches, England players opted to extend their protest to Euro 2020. He has been greeted with boos from sections of the crowd since their return to action and opinions have been mixed from within. Government.
Editors’ Choice What did the England defender say?
“To the Home Secretary I don’t really have a direct message,” Mings said ahead of his team’s game against Scotland. “I mean we talked, in fact, she invited me once on a Zoom call, where she seemed interested and captivated by the players’ perspective and what more we could do to resolve that sort of thing. problems.
“At the same time, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and the Home Secretary is one of many who oppose us getting down on our knees or refusing to defend him.
“So we have our own set of beliefs and what we think we can do to help and there will be players who can be influential and can stand up for what we believe in. Of course, when you have such strong beliefs, there are will have opposition for that.
“We talked about it a lot, we talked about trying to educate or trying to inform the minority that refuses to recognize why we kneel down and want to do it.
“At the same time at Wembley there has been an overwhelmingly positive reaction to our kneeling as well and I don’t think that should be eclipsed by the minority who refuse to accept reasons or who are not. disagree with them. “
What is the government’s point of view?
I just don’t support people engaging in this type of gesture politics, Patel told GB News. She went on to say that it was good to support a cause and have your voice heard, but when it comes to the BLM protests that have taken place in the UK, the impact on the police has been devastating.
She said: I just don’t agree with this opinion that we should rewrite our history by demolishing statues, the famous Colston statue [the Bristol-based slave trader], and what happened there.
Dropping statues isn’t the solution – it’s about learning from our past, learning from our history, and working together to achieve the right result.
Can we talk about football now?
Mings was one of the best players in England’s 1-0 win over Croatia to open their European Championship campaign, although many expect him to be abandoned soon with the defender of Manchester United Harry Maguire almost in good shape.
Mings is not worried about losing and said: “Harry is a fantastic defender with a lot of credit in the bank.
“At the same time there is absolute competition for places and I think he’s someone I admire in terms of a center-back and someone who is so consistent with a lot of pressure on his shoulders being captain. from Man Utd and being one of the main players in England.
“He’s a person I take a lot of inspiration from. So being mentioned in the same breath is a compliment in and of itself.”
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