Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has been criticised for his comments on Black Lives Matter protestors ‘taking the knee,’ a form of protest against police brutality in the US. He called the gesture “a symbol of subjugation and subordination, rather than one of liberation” and claimed that it “seems to be taken” from the TV show Game of Thrones. On the contrary, taking the knee is neither a symbol of subjugation nor liberation – instead, it symbolises “solidarity and respect for black victims of police brutality”, as Nels Abbey put it in the Independent.
When asked if he’d take a knee, Raab said he would only take the knee for two people, “the Queen and the Mrs when I asked her to marry me”.
Following backlash, he clarified his views on the matter, saying, “I have full respect for the Black Lives Matter movement”. However, he has continued to receive criticism for his comments from politicians as well as the public. Former Conservative MP, Anna Soubry, called Raab “an embarrassment to our country and the party I used to be a proud member of” and Ed Davey, acting co-leader of the Liberal Democrats, claimed Raab should make a ‘fulsome apology’ and take the knee himself.
Sufia Jafri
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