The Athletic

Hello, I'm Dan Barnes.

It's October and it's UK Black History Month

and you're about to hear me in conversation

with some of my black colleagues here at The Athletic

and we're going to be talking about taking the knee.

What purpose is taking the knee served?

What, if anything, has changed?

Should it continue?

And why does it make some people so angry?

This is the Athletic Football podcast. Look at this, a powerful image to show football's social conscience. This is a demonstration

of the injustices or inequalities, the different cultures and

races within football, I think is so powerful. And this is something that we shouldn't let go

or stop without thinking why or thinking really deeply as to why we're stopping.

We're kind of being used as puppets kind of thing in my eyes.

We've got the tops and we've got the kneeling and then nothing's changing.

It's becoming something that we just do now, you know?

That's not enough for me.

I'm not going to take the knee.

I'm not going to wear Black Lives mat on the back of my...

Because it feels like it's a target.

We're isolating ourselves.

...