#SymbolTakeAKneeGenuflectionKneeling
Supplementary: #MetaphorWarfareCulture "While universities, museums, and even media establishments have been key battlefields in Johnson's 'War on Woke', these dusty and distant institutions pale in comparison to the arena of football.
Not only is sport both a mixture of culture, ritual, community bonding and key to local and national identity, it takes place in real time - binding millions together in a lived experience with a precarious and thrilling outcome. The 2012 London Olympics proved what a collective force sporting success can be. The Euro 2020 championship showed how even failure at a football final can expose the soul of a nation.
Gareth Southgate and his diverse, socially-conscious team have given us another kind of England. A country famed for its long history of migration and asylum, this vision was set out by the England manager in his 'Dear England' letter to the country, in response to criticisms of his players taking the knee to recognise the reality of structural racism.
In doing so, Southgate was not only directly taking on Britain's right-wing press (the Sun described it as 'virtue-signalling baloney' and a 'grotesque woke pantomime', while the Financial Times reported concerns that Southgate is an agent of 'deep woke'), he was also standing up against the holder of one of the most powerful offices of state - the Home Secretary - who had dismissed the stance as 'gesture politics' and averred that fans had a right to boo it. 'That's a choice for them, quite frankly,' Priti Patel told GB News."
https://bylinetimes.com/2021/07/13/a-pitched-battle-johnson-and-patels-culture-war-flaw-finally-exposed/