OPINION – UK media label Hungarian children ‘racist’
Hot on the heels of Hungary erupting in celebration after their unexpected but well-deserved 1-0 win over the English national team in Saturday’s UEFA Nations League match at the Puskás Arena, political attacks began to surface in the western media. This time however, the criticism touched a personal nerve among Hungarians, as the media’s harsh criticism was aimed at young children instead of their usual target – the country’s conservative government.
Apparently boos were heard from the stands during the national anthem when the England players took the knee before the game. According to reports, these came from the Hungarian stands populated by young fans under the age of 14. Due to the disorderly behavior of fans last year, adults were banned from the stadium, but UEFA had granted an exception for the qualifying match held in Budapest, allowing more than 35,000 Hungarian children to cheer for their national team.
It’s unclear what sparked the alleged boos among the children, or how many were involved, but the incident was heavily addressed in a statement of English boss Gareth Southgate, who said, “I thought that was why we were doing this, to try to educate.” He added: “There were pantomime boos when the team came out to warm up, it was different with the knee hold. It was like an inherited thought for me… This is why we do this, this is why we continue to take this position and we will continue to do so. “I don’t know why people would try to boo that gesture,” he added.
Indeed, why would anyone in their right mind object to a football team showing open support for an extremist political movement that openly calls for the abolition of nuclear families, the defunding of the police, the of protests in which shops and cars are set on fire, police and journalists attacked and whose leaders are now under investigation for buying themselves multimillion-dollar mansions through donations?
The cultural imperialism that underlies Southgate’s thinking is probably only hidden from Southgate himself, even if he unwittingly manages to answer his own question. Hungarians stood up to cultural, gender and race relations evangelists from abroad and presented their much maligned child protection law which expressly forbids targeting school-aged children with identity politics. The law clearly states that it is exclusively the right of parents to educate their offspring on controversial political, sexual or gender issues. In other words, there is no need for the England national football team to shed light on race relations in the ‘less fortunate’ parts of the world.
Southgate’s infuriatingly simplistic observation that these children exhibit “inherited thinking” also implies that their parents are also racists. In turn, however, the England coach could be asked to perhaps reflect on his own ‘inherited thinking’ no doubt passed down to him by his parents or former teachers showing respect for noble British traditions. such as diplomatic skills, respect for freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, respect for children and national sovereignty. A measure of inherited thought could also do players good, consciously or not, bowing their heads to a set of obligatory morals, kneeling before an ideology actively involved in removing statues of their national heroes, calling saviors their wartime country of “fascists”. ,’ and inject into the minds of unsuspecting young children divisive ideologies such as critical race theory.
The fact that the world’s media brand 35,000 young Hungarian children as “racists” who go blunt during a football match is indeed a new low for journalism. To chant or swear at players, whether black or white, because of their ethnicity is racist. Booing a whole team taking the knee when they should be proud, while singing their national anthem, isn’t. To collectively stigmatize children because they are children and to say things as they see them is a shame.
Some British newspapers, such as the former Conservative The telegraph of the day, quickly muted their comment sections under their posts accusing Hungarian children of racist behavior. It is however ironic that while they smear children with accusations that should only be reserved for adults, they at the same time manage to treat their own readers as children who cannot be trusted to express their opinions. in a politically correct way. Or is it just to hide the fact that the vast majority of their subscribers are dissatisfied with this line of thinking, and would have demonstrated the Telegraphhow unbalanced is their interpretation and how out of touch with popular sentiment on the issue of footballers taking the knee? The Daily mail readers, on the other hand, had a chance to voice their thoughts in the comments, and behold, the vast majority of them showed unwavering support for the sentiments allegedly shown by young Hungarian fans. “Stop kneeling then, point made, carry on with the football,” one wrote. “It’s the English players who need to be educated. People are sick of being preached to by footballers with bad morals,” another wrote.
In recent years, Hungary has been at the forefront of a Christian cultural revival, of rediscovering the Christian roots of their own nation and that of European civilization. Perhaps then in the rematch in England, their national team should enter the pitch led by a priest swinging an incense burner singing Psalms through a loudspeaker. After all, if footballers want to engage in exporting their own country’s morals and teaching others what to think, that’s a way for the Hungarian team to repay the team’s favor. English. However, one thing that all parties should refrain from is the indiscriminate political stigmatization of children. We need them to be the ones who scream in innocent laughter, or occasionally boo, when the Emperor is found naked.
Photo illustrated by Zsolt Szigetváry /MTI
