Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has taken heat for saying in an interview that he didn’t know where ‘taking a knee’ in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement came from, adding that he thought it was inspired by the TV show Game of Thrones.
Mr. Raab said: ‘I’ve got to say, on this taking a knee thing, I don’t know, maybe it’s got a broader history but it seems to be taken from The Game of Thrones, feels to me like a symbol of subjugation and subordination rather than one of liberation and emancipation.’
The Foreign Secretary also said: ‘I take the knee for two people, the Queen and the Mrs when I asked her to marry me.’
Mr Raab’s incorrect statements about taking a knee being derived from Game of Thrones drew the ire of BLM supporters, with MP David Lammy saying the comments were ‘insulting’ to the movement and ‘deeply embarrassing’.
For anyone looking to brush up on the history of the black rights movement, here’s where the practice of taking a knee in protest really comes from…
Where does ‘taking a knee’ come from?
While the phrase and custom known as ‘bending the knee’ does feature as an important plot point in Game of Thrones, the practice of ‘taking a knee’ in peaceful protest against racism and police brutality is, in fact, totally unrelated.
Taking a knee has been associated with the civil rights movement since Martin Luther King knelt to pray with protesters in Selma, Alabama in 1965.
In recent years, taking a knee to protest against racism was popularised by NFL player Colin Kaepernick, who knelt rather than stood for the national anthem as it was played before a game in 2016.
Kaepernick, who is now an unsigned player with no team, said at the time: ‘I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.
‘There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.’
Afterwards, more American footballers and other professional sports players began to follow suit, and in the years that have followed, many protestors worldwide have knelt to show their solidarity and support for the fight against racism and police brutality.
President Donald Trump did not take kindly to sports players kneeling during the national anthem however, and in 2017, he called for players who kneel to be fired.
However this did not stop players or protesters kneeling, and the recent killing of George Floyd – an unarmed black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck during his arrest – has brought both the Black Lives Matter movement and this form of protesting to the forefront of minds worldwide.
Following his comments on Thursday, Mr Raab tweeted: ‘To be clear: I have full respect for the Black Lives Matter movement, and the issues driving them.
‘If people wish to take a knee, that’s their choice and I respect it. We all need to come together to tackle any discrimination and social injustice.’
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