I watched the “taking the knee” saga involving Quinton de Kock with interest from the UK. Readers in SA will know the details better than me, but let’s recap for the sake of argument.
De Kock pulled out of the Twenty20 match against the West Indies last Tuesday after Cricket SA apparently told players in a statement shortly before that match that they were expected to take the knee before matches. De Kock refused, as he didn’t want to be forced to make the gesture, and pulled out of the match.
Twitter was aflame around the world after an emotional week, and after a statement by De Kock on Thursday he eventually took the knee before the match against Sri Lanka on Saturday.
I find all of this astounding, not least because the issue of taking the knee has been an enormous one here in the UK given that the English national football team take the knee before all their matches. The debate around the gesture went into overdrive during the Euro 2020 tournament, when Tory politicians — including the prime minister and home secretary, who is a person of colour — initially criticised the team for woke “gesture politics” in a seemingly cynical effort to score points in the so-called culture wars.
It all began when Boris Johnson and Priti Patel refused to condemn fans for booing the team each time they took the knee before kickoff. But as the team progressed in the tournament and the nation got behind them to the extent that the booing was drowned out by supportive cheers, senior Tories began to criticise colleagues in the party for not understanding the gesture or being willing to make a stand against racism.
It means the world to people of colour when sports people, and white sports people in particular, make a stand against racism
When it became apparent that there were more political points to be scored by now supporting the team — about the time England beat archrivals Germany — both the prime minister and home secretary released photos of themselves in England shirts supporting the Three Lions. Both Patel and Johnson were then berated for their hypocrisy.
The issue escalated even further when racist abuse was directed at black players Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho after the final against Italy, in which they all missed their penalties. Patel and Johnson were among the first to condemn the racist abuse and were quickly told to get back in their boxes by England and Aston Villa centre-back Tyrone Mings.
Mings said in a tweet widely supported by England fans: “You don’t get to stoke the fire at the beginning of the tournament by labelling our antiracism message as ‘gesture politics’ & then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we’re campaigning against, happens.”
The England team still take the knee at their matches because racism remains a problem in sport and society. Just on October 12 in their World Cup qualifier against Hungary, some of the Carpathian Brigade ultras had a sign with an antiknee image.
Football fanatic
That people oppose the knee is saddening. But I don’t think that means they should be mandated to do so. In this, Cricket SA was particularly cack-handed. I would much rather players do so willingly, as the England national team does.
It means the world to people of colour when sports people, and white sports people in particular, make a stand against racism. For me the stance of the English national team has made me feel like I am seen, like they are my team, and moreover they have made me a football fanatic.
It has made me think deeply about the positive role sports can play in our society, and how impactful it is when players are visible. I hope this is what ultimately provoked De Kock’s change of heart on the issue.
• Dr Masie, a former senior editor of the Financial Mail, is chief strategist at IC Publications in London and a fellow of the Wits School of Governance.
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