CELEBRATING THREE LIONS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: september 2021 :: RMTnews 21 This year English football reached once-in-a-generation heights. Our national team entered its first major tournament final in 55 years, a feat which included a similarly historic victory against our longstanding footballing rivals, Germany. Leaving behind ego trips and all-or-nothing theatrics, England manager Gareth Southgate and team captain Harry Kane have led a young team committed to playing tactically and methodically to each other’s strengths. It’s a strategy that has delivered astonishing results and quite rightly made Southgate one of the most beloved men in the country. With so much to be proud of, it's devastating that a vocal, but loud minority has taken it on themselves to cast a cloud over everything. Even before the first ball of the tournament was played, Southgate and the team drew outrage from some quarters by stating plainly their intention to stand up to racism in football and society. In one particularly pathetic act of gesture politics, Conservative MP Lee Anderson announced that he would be boycotting the Euros entirely. Apparently, he wished to protest the team’s decision to take the knee out of respect to the world movement for racial equality led by Black Lives Matter. Worse, the Home Secretary Priti Patel implicitly endorsed racist England fans booing the team in response to their dignified, peaceful protest. England defender Tyrone Mings has quite rightly accused her of empowering the flood of racist abuse the team suffered after their knockout on penalties against Italy in the final. Let it never be said again that the bigots of the Conservative Party have any genuine feeling of patriotism. They love their country and the people in it when its suits them, and sometimes not even then. In sharp contrast to the failure of leadership from our political class, Gareth Southgate penned a moving open letter to the fans, which explained: “Our players are role models. And, beyond the confines of the pitch, we must recognise the impact they can have on society. We must give them the confidence to stand up for their teammates and the things that matter to them as people. “I have never believed that we should just stick to football. “It’s their duty to continue to interact with the public on matters such as equality, inclusivity and racial injustice, while using the power of their voices to help put debates on the table, raise awareness and educate”. But it isn’t just MPs and football managers who have a duty to play their part in the struggle for racial equality, its all of us - including here in the workplace. This is why I have felt especially proud watching England this year, not just because of how well we’ve done but also because I feel as though they genuinely represented me and my aspirations for the kind of country in want live in. I am sure that many other black workers on our railways, in our trade union, and across the country felt the same pride as I did. We have felt this pride whether we have chosen to make England our home or whether we were born here and have been made to fight every day to be accepted as English by those racists now booing their own national team. As Chair of the RMT’s Black & Ethnic Minority Members Advisory Committee (BEMMAC) I would like to express my admiration for the England team and for their historic achievements this year. I would also like to express my gratitude to them for their courage in standing up for all of us in this country who have to fight to be treated with equal respect and dignity on account of our race. I would like to express particular solidarity and gratitude to Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka: three heroes whose extraordinary talent was vital in taking English football to new heights, and three young black men whose integrity and bravery will stand as an inspiration for old generations and new. In victory or defeat, you represent the best of what it is to be English. Oluwarotimi Ajayi CELEBRATING THREE LIONS RMT black and ethnic committee chair offers solidarity and gratitude to Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka