A British mother has been under fire by social media users after she uploaded a picture of her young daughter kneeling down while holding up a sign that read “Privileged” with an arrow that points up at her along with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.
In her tweet, Helen Leathem wrote that her daughter is showing solidarity with the protestors with a fist emoji and the hashtag #TakeTheKnee. Leathem is said to be from London.
After one of their family friends share the image, the picture and the tweet quickly became controversial. Most users criticized Leathem for what they believed to be an exploitation of her child for a cheap publicity stunt.
The posture of kneeling down is itself a gesture that protests police violence and cruelty in the US. NFL player Colin Kaepernick stirred great controversy when he first began taking a knee when the national anthem was being played. Since then, Kaepernick and the gesture have themselves became symbols.
The protests against racism and police violence that began in the US with the death of George Floyd has spread across the Atlantic to the United Kingdom as well.
A picture of British police officers taking a knee in front of the protestors who gathered outside of Downing Street went viral online, and was received enthusiastically by the protestors who praised and celebrated the solidarity that the police showed with them and the movement.
It was the first time that the gesture was used by British police officers. One officer who first took a knee said that he wanted to physically show that he and his colleagues were neither racists nor there to fight with the protestors.
While the significance of the gesture and the movement is undeniable, many users were enraged that a young girl, who does not truly seem to grasp the situation, was holding up a sign that may be perceived as self-loathe or denial.
Another user pointed out that children often do not see or understand racism through their pristine perspectives. It is only after being exposed to outside influences that they learn and, for some, exercise racism.
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Replaced!