Posted on 05/12/2021 6:10:21 PM PDT by conservative98
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has dropped the nickname “Saxons” for one of the top England teams following a Black Lives Matter-inspired diversity review into the sport.
England’s second team, which has been referred to as the “Saxons” since 2006, will have its name changed back to the old “England A” team when they face off against Scotland A in Leicester in June, in order “to reflect the diversity in society”.
Announcing their decision to scrap the “inappropriate” nickname, an RFU spokesman told The Times: “We have chosen to revert to the traditional name of ‘England A’ for this fixture against ‘Scotland A’ as a better representation of our team today.”
One of England’s top all-time try-scorers, Martin Offiah, supported the move but said that it should be accompanied by “something more substantial”.
The British-born Nigerian heritage Hall of Fame rugby player explained: “Adding names like Saxons probably was a bit misguided. It’s a gesture that we’re going in the right direction but gestures need to have something more substantial behind it.
“Are we going to see a black coach of the England rugby union team, more black board members? How many black people are involved in the commercial department? Those are the conversations we need to have.”
The decision to scrap the “Saxons” nickname comes after the union conducted a Black Lives Matter-inspired review of the use of the song ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ because of its links to slavery in the United States.
The song was penned by freed Oklahoma slave Wallace Willice following the American Civil War and has since become associated with black gospel music in America. British rugby fans picked up the tune after a come-from-behind victory over Ireland in 1988.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
This is asinine.
The Shire is in need of a thorough scouring.
The Jutes were marginalized for so long.
YAWN , who cares
Only black history matters.
FU woke idiots
Geez... So everyone gets to celebrate their ethnic heritage in Europe except whites? Do I understand that correctly?
Those who don’t learn history are doomed to repeat it.
But
Those who destroy history intend to repeat it.
England A?
The name “England” is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means “land of the Angles”. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages.
Maybe “England” isn’t diverse enough either and should be changed. How about Oceania?
And the guy up above writes who cares? Who cares????? So tired of people and their dangerous apathy.
Just give teams numbers !
That will solve the problem.
Also have them all wear the same color of uniform for true equity.
[[The infamously woke Prince Harry, a patron of the Rugby Football Union, backed the call to ban the song from England rugby matches last June.]]
How about Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah instead.
What does England A stand for? England Arabs?
I kind of like EUrasia, but wouldn’t that offend the folks from Eastasia?
So, if you name your team for some groups (”Indians”), it marginalizes that group; but if you name your team for other groups, it marginalizes everyone else. This is just another example of “A privilege”, as it is well-known that z surnamed people have shorter lives due to the stress of having to wait at the end of the line
Most of the ‘players of color’ I see in English rugby are Pacific Islanders rather than of African origin. But few if any English teams are all white. But then there’s the problem of the New Zealand team the All Blacks, most of whom are white. Both the French and the Italians are called the ‘Blues’ in their respective languages, non of whose players are in fact blue or even bluish. What to do, what to do?
Saxons? Had they reverted? ;)
Rugby is stupid.
When do they say,,,We are not men?
So stupid!
Countdown to their finding “England” in the title offensive....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.