What Does Kevin De Bruyne's 'Black Lives Matter' Jersey Mean To Belgium?

Kevin De Bruyne and others support the Black Lives Matter movement following the murder of the African-American George Floyd. Photo credit: rtl.be/sport

Kevin De Bruyne is a Belgian professional football player who will be 29 on June 28, 2020. His prowess in football as a midfield player has enabled him to play for the league club Manchester City and the Belgian National Team.

After a hundred days of the English Premier League suspension due to the coronavirus, Manchester City and Arsenal players exhibited jerseys on the soccer field with the inscription 'Black Lives Matter' behind.

Following the brutal murder of the African-American, George Floyd, many organizations and football players around the globe have shown solidarity and supported the 'Black Lives Matter' movement, since there is also a serious issue of racism in football.

Manchester City player Kevin De Bruyne was among other players to denounce racism in soccer as he knelt on the field. However, I strongly believe De Bruyne's action may trigger many questions of interest.

The footballer comes from Belgium, a country that has hailed and supported colonial crimes by erecting statues and naming streets after Leopold II, a king who maimed, hacked the wrists and limbs of children, and killed thousands of Congolese.

Why, for decades, has it never been a subject of interest to Kevin De Bruyne and other Belgian players, including Romelu Lukaku and Vincent Kompany, to speak about that inglorious statue of Leopold II, which has brought shame, disrespect, and insults to the Black man?

You need to consider people who deliberately do the wrong things yet pretend they have done something good very dangerous. That is both the Belgian government and its royal family. If there isn't any statue for Hitler for killing Jews, then there shouldn't be any statue for Leopold II for killing Africans, because we are all human beings.

The color of a person doesn't matter more than the brain he has; therefore, this color issue was just institutionalized as a barrier for the greedy white people to oppress other people to work as slaves for them, leading to slavery, colonial brutalities, and apartheid.

Marc Dutroux is a Belgian convicted pedophile who killed children. He was convicted in 1989 for the abduction and rape of five young girls, and in 2004, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the abduction, rape, and killings of young girls. 

Since 2004, I have been waiting for the Belgian government to unveil the statue of Dutroux, but it has never happened. Sometimes I wonder why a country that has gained world recognition in beer and chocolate production would ruin its reputation in this manner.

Surprisingly, despite all the problems, including demonstrations and hate that have been generated against the government and the royal family over those stupid statues, the Belgian government wasn't prepared to remove them until angry protesters defaced one of Leopold's statues in Ekeren, one of Belgium's municipalities.

The removal of Leopold's statue in Ekeren has a voice that, if the Belgian government or the royal family is wise, they should listen to. Also, Kevin De Bruyne's jersey has a message that, if they listen carefully, they will hear.

Already, statues serving slavery and colonial interests are being pulled down. The Belgian government and the royal family shouldn't wait for another 'George Floyd' to be killed, followed by riots, before they consider pulling down the senseless Leopold's statues.

A word to the wise is enough.

REFLECTIONS OF PAST TURBULENCE ON CURRENT GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS

Smallpox pandemic, photo credit: the Social Historian

It's clear and obvious that today's younger generation has never experienced such a destructive nature of a deadly and prolonged disease, known as the coronavirus, forcing people to stay at home, with anxiety, fear, and unemployment. 



The current crisis of the coronavirus, about infection, deceased, and healing, seems to bring to mind the harsh and bitter experiences of victims during the First and Second World Wars. 

It also gives us a comprehensive understanding of the terrible times people went through during epidemics, such as the Spanish flu, influenza, cholera, and other deadly pandemics.

People think their freedom has been taken away from them because they have been forced to stay at home, can't enjoy sports, visit the cinema halls, the restaurant, go to the football stadium, and visit their loved ones. 

The question is, do people have to be angry over measures that protect and guarantee their own safety against the deadly COVID-19? How honest and sincere are people? 

Let's begin to think deeply about whether people are bitterly complaining about measures to avoid the spread of the coronavirus as a loss of freedom. Decades after Germany was divided into East and West Germany, the Iron Curtain came tumbling down in 1989. 

The Germans were divided for 45 years, and those trying to flee from the East to the West were shot down in cold blood.

Africans were captured and taken as slaves. Their homes were burned down, and the people were divided and brutalized. The scars of colonialism and Apartheid are still visible in Africa today.  After that, Aids and Ebola have hit the continent, killing thousands.

Captured African slaves were taken to America to work long hours in sugarcane plantations amidst hunger and poverty. Years after the abolition of slavery, African Americans are still suffering.

Comparing those turbulence times to the current time of the coronavirus gives a better understanding of how people have suffered in the past, and the most painful part, which we can't ignore, is that the emerged political crisis and pandemics were man-made.

The suspension of work and school activities ordered by the government is for our own good. The answers to controlling the pandemic are not only technological or medical, but also quarantine and avoiding social gatherings.

Hanged African-American woman

Thousands of people have died because of the coronavirus. The world is bleeding, and people are mourning, in a state of shock and despair. Yet, it's shocking to read negative comments from people who are happy that the COVID - 19 is killing more black people in the United States of America.

This is not a time to laugh at people because the coronavirus's impact has taken its toll on whites or a particular race. The disease is far from over; besides, no one knows if you are going to live today or the next day. 

People need to show love and care in these disturbing times, not hate, discrimination, and racism. This is the time the world must come together as one until the right vaccines come to save the lives of people who are perishing because of COVID-19.