100 take the knee in Euros racism protest
CAMPAIGNERS gathered in the city centre on Saturday to take the knee following the racist abuse directed at England footballers after the Euro 2020 final.
About 100 people chanted “black lives matter” as they knelt in unison on Saturday.
The event, organised by Stand up to Racism (SUTR) hosted speakers from across the county.
Christine Lewis, from Leicester SUTR, said: “Leicester people, together with millions across the country, were sickened at the appalling racist abuse faced by Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka following the penalty shoot out.
“Leicester Stand up to Racism put out a call to all those angry about this to take the knee in response.
“The result was brilliant. At very short notice about 150 people gathered from all over Leicester, including Labour councillors, trades unionists, representatives from GNG 150 football club and many others.”
A spokesman for SUTR said: “The England team had shown opposition to racism with their #TakeTheKnee throughout the competition – joined by many other teams and supported by the vast majority of fans.
“But when some booed the team, the government in the shape of Boris Johnson and Priti Patel backed the right to boo and attacked the ‘gesture politics’ of the team.
“Tyrone Mings is right to say this stoked the fire of the racist actions which followed.
“In Leicester, we are proud of our multicultural city and its tradition of continuously standing up to racism.”