UK minister refuses to take 'the knee' as it is from Game of Thrones
Dominic Raab
United Kingdom'sForeign secretary Dominic Raab is being ridiculedfor saying he would not ‘'take the knee'’ in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, describing it as a ''symbol of subjugation and subordination'' thatoriginated from the TV show Game of Thrones.
Raab admitted he did not know the broader history of the gesture, which has been used at demonstrations around the world to express solidarity in the fight against racial inequality.
He said he understood why some people took the knee, but said he would only do so ''for the Queen and mywifewhen I asked her to marry me”.
The pose, used in the past by Martin Luther King for prayer, was adopted as a secular protest against racism in 2016 and has spread widely since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month as a way of showing support for Black Lives Matter movement and respect for those killed.
He has been ridiculed for incorrectly claiming it derived from hit TV series Game of Thrones, with critics calling his comments ''insulting and embarrassing''. Speaking in an interview, Raab accepted other people ''feel differently''and insisted he understood the ‘frustration’ felt by oppressed communities.
Dominic Raab during theinterview (left) and kneeling in the show Game of Thrones (right)
Raab later sought to clarify his remarks, tweeting:
It comes after Premier League football playerstook a knee at kickoffin support of the Black Lives Matter movement in Wednesday's games.
Taking a knee has come to be regarded as a symbolic act of opposing racism in recent years.
It originated in American football, when National Football League player Colin Kaepernick knelt while the US national anthem played to call attention to racial injustice.
In Game of Thrones, ''bending the knee''is a formal act of submission to a monarch or lord.