Top British diplomat says taking knee in protest feels like ‘symbol of subjugation’

United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Thursday questioned the act of kneeling to protest racial injustice and police brutality, saying that it felt to him like a “symbol of subjugation and subordination.”

Speaking on the British radio show “Talk Radio,” Raab said that he understood the “sense of frustration and restlessness” from the Black Lives Matter movement. But he said that he couldn’t understand the meaning behind the act of kneeling, wondering whether it derived from the HBO series “Game of Thrones.”

“I understand people feel differently about it so it’s a matter of personal choice,” he said, adding that he’d only “take the knee for two people.” 

“The queen and the missus when I asked her to marry me,” he said. 

had to listen back a few times to check Dominic Raab really said this

“On this taking the knee thing, I don’t know maybe it’s got a broader history, it seems to be taken from the Game of Thrones, feels to me like a symbol of subjugation and subordination”pic.twitter.com/xNMkWwpxfX

— Matthew Champion (@matthewchampion) June 18, 2020

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick first took a knee during the national anthem in 2016 to protest racial inequities in the U.S. The demonstration has since been replicated by hundreds of amateur and professional athletes as well by others in the ensuing years. 

As protests swept the nation following the police killing of George Floyd, the act of kneeling has become a widely used gesture to show support for the demonstrations. Police officers have taken a knee with protesters in several U.S. cities amid the unrest.

Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. took a knee in the Capitol earlier this month while paying homage to Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis police custody on May 25 after a white officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

In the U.K. on Wednesday, players and coaches from Premier League teams took a knee in protest before participating in the first matches since the coronavirus outbreak suspended play. Players also wore jerseys with the message “Black Lives Matter” printed across the back. 

Following his interview with “Talk Radio,” Raab tweeted that he has “full respect for the Black Lives Matter movement, and the issues driving them.”

“If people wish to take a knee, that’s their choice and I respect it. We all need to come together to tackle any discrimination and social injustice,” he said. 

The comments had prompted backlash online and among officials in the British government. David Lammy, a Labor member of Parliament, tweeted that the remarks were “insulting” to the Black Lives Matter movement and “deeply embarrassing.”