Harry Kane: England captain says kneeling for Black Lives Matter remains vital
- Published
'I think we should still be taking the knee'
England captain Harry Kane says Premier League players should continue to take a knee before matches in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
QPR decided in September to stop making the gesture before games, with director of football Les Ferdinand saying its impact had "been diluted".
Kane told BBC Radio 5 live he sees it as educational for a global audience.
"I hear people ask if we should still be doing it and we should," said the Tottenham striker, 27.
"What people don't realise is sometimes we are watched by millions of people round the world. Of course, for the person who watches the Premier League every week, they see the same thing every week.
"But I think if you look around the world you see children watching the game for the first time, seeing us all take a knee and asking their parents and asking why we take the knee.
"It's a great chance for people to explain why and get their point across. Education is the biggest thing we can do. Adults can teach generations what it means, and what it means to be together and help each other no matter what your race."
Premier League players kneel in Black Lives Matter solidarity
Players, officials and staff at Premier League and English Football League games have been taking a knee pre-match since the 2019-20 season restarted in June in order to show their support for the movement for racial equality.
American football player Colin Kaepernick started kneeling symbolically during the pre-game national anthem in the NFL in 2016, in protest at police violence against African-Americans in the United States.
The BLM movement and taking a knee has grown in prominence in the United Kingdom following the death of George Floyd in the US in May, which sparked protests around the world.
The 46-year-old, an unarmed black man, died after a white police officer held a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
In an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live's Nihal Arthanayake, Kane highlighted the community, charity and campaigning work done by England team-mates Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford to help children this year.
He also said that it was important for white Premier League players to play their part in highlighting racism.
"What Marcus and Raheem have done has been incredible and you see a lot of the work players do for communities and charities, I know first-hand that players are doing an awful lot," Kane said.
"I don't like it when people say we should just play football and stick to kicking a ball, because we have a huge platform. We come across to millions round the world. Our voices should be heard.
"All we want to do is help and help the world be a better place.
"The more education the younger generations get, hopefully as time goes by racism will be a thing of the past and that's got to be the aim - especially with children. We want to bring them into a world where were all together and we all understand each other.
"A lot of white players in the league haven't been racially abused but we have all been there or seen team-mates and friends racially abused so we want to help make a change.
"The only way to do that is to stick together, to voice your opinion and try to help make that change."
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