Wilfried Zaha has been saying for weeks that hes no longer interested in taking a knee before kickoff to support No Room for Racism because he believes its more important to stand tall in the face of bigotry.The Crystal Palace wide-man added that kneeling isnt having a positive effect and he feels like a target, so hell no longer take part. Zaha has been true to his word, standing while teammates kneel, but its upsetting seeing a black player losing hope.Why kneeling is importantZaha the FT Busine s of Football conference in February: I feel like taking a knee is degrading. Khalil Mack Jersey Growing up, my parents just let me know that I should just be proud to be black, no matter what, and I just think we should stand tall.I think the meaning behind the whole thing is becoming something that we just do now. Thats not enough. Im not going to take the knee.Zaha may feel kneeling to fight racism is alien to him and believes it makes more sense to stand, but hes ignoring the history attached to the gesture.A 1780s drawing of a black slave kneeling became an emblem of the British abolitionist movement () and the director of the Women and Gender Studies Institute at the University of Toronto says kneeling is about articulating the promise and desire of freedom from oppre sion. To say its important is an understatement.Zaha may not be aware that kneeling has been a symbol for centuries, and now his stance is being celebrated by those who oppose the cause, so his Andy Dalton Jersey decision looks like a defection. Many have ignored his quotes on why hes standing tall and think hes a opponent not a supporter.This is not the case. Zaha believes in the cause, but I think hes disheartened at the promise of change in football and nothing happening. There isnt crowd trouble because the Covid-19 pandemic has forced a stay-at-home order, but there has been online abuse that shows no signs of slowing down. Many are brazen in their abuse and emboldened as punishments are lacking.What is Black Lives Matter?Black Lives Matter started as a movement devoted to tacking police brutality in the US and led to discu sions about racial prejudice around the world. Diversity is prevalent in football and clubs quickly adopted kneeling as a defiant me sage against racism, but the authorities have been slow quashing abuse. We see players attacked on social media by anonymous accounts who seldom face consequences for their actions, so whats the deterrent? We hear of players alleging abuse from opponents, but then nothing comes of the claims due to a lack of evidence, so are we really moving forward?It would help if all parties could agree on what kneeling represents too. Lyle Taylor was an in February, labelling the movement Marxist while defending white players that dont kneel, so hes giving opponents a get out of jail free card.There are politics attached to (defunding the police, pro-union, medicare for all in the US), which is why the Premier League separated themselves and adopted No Room for Racism, so Taylor hasnt been paying attention.Whats worse is that his misinformation has been amplified and many blindly believe his words without fact-checking. Black Lives Matter dont to themselves as a Marxist organisation on their website, but the label has stuck with critics.Can football end racism?Its a powerful Chicago Bears Men Jersey image seeing a team kneel in solidarity, but there is the risk of the gesture losing all meaning if it doesnt come with action. on anonymous accounts, so fake profiles will still be able to abuse players. that violate their terms and conditions, but they wont force users to verify profiles with ID either.The UKs first football hate crime officer was only in February, so the response to racism has been reactive not pro-active. And while there has been arrests for online abuse, players appear to be targeted every week, so the threat of criminalisation isnt acting as a deterrent. There are just two months of the 2020/21 Tashaun Gipson Jersey season remaining and it doesnt seem like much positive action has come from kneeling, so you cant blame players for losing faith. This isnt just footballs problem to fix either there were 105,090 hate crime offences in the UK last year.Raising awarene s is a start, constant education is beneficial and a zero-tolerance policy is e sential this is Kick It Outs philosophy. Unfortunately, a report in September 2020 revealed there had been a 42% increase in reports of discrimination in English profe sional football, so it may feel like the battle is being lost.The rise in reports may be down to people finding their voice, however, as many were silent in the past but now agree that enough is enough.My me sage to WilfEndure. Nothing worth fighting for comes easy and this will be a long fight. The people were trying to change have held prejudices their entire lives, so a few months of Cole Kmet Jersey kneeling isnt going to make them reconsider thats a ridiculous fantasy. of the players from 92 profe sional clubs, but visibility hasnt been enough to quell racism, so education is the only avenue left to make a difference.Every player and staff member of every club should be forced to undergo mandatory cla ses on race, a history le son of the UKs role in the slave trade and the truth of the British Empire. They will learn how racism was weaponised and see how black people still feel the effects of slavery today.And after that, teams should consider walking off the pitch if racist abuse continues, so governing bodies get the me sage that games wont be fulfilled unle s the playing environment is made le s toxic.