Andre Gray has backed his former Burnley teammate Ben Mee in condemning those who arranged for a ‘White Lives Matter’ banner to be flown over the Etihad Stadium on Monday night.
All Premier League players supported Black Lives Matter over the weekend by wearing the phrase on the back of their shirts and taking a knee ahead of their respective kick-offs.
But during Manchester City v Burnley this was followed up with a display of the banner, which both Mee and Gray feel has deliberately undermined the message.
“For them to anti-protest what we’re protesting against just speaks volumes in itself,” Gray told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“Because if you read about what the Black Lives Matter movement is about, it’s not about white versus black or anything like that, it’s a peaceful thing about wanting equality in the country we were born and raised in.
“I think a lot of them are scared to see us as being equal to them. So it’s ignorance, it’s fear, it’s a lot of things and at the end of the day it’s just pure racism.”
The Black Lives Matter message does not infer white lives matter any less but actively highlights how black people are not always treated equally and that this is unacceptable.
Gray has witnessed negative responses to the movement and thinks this is why it’s so important the conversation is being had.
“It only takes you to see an interview posted on Twitter and then read the comments to see what people are saying and realise what people really think,” he said.
“I think social media has really exposed all of that now and people are coming out of the woodwork now who you wouldn’t even expect, even people that I know.
“It’s quite shocking but that’s the world we’re living in and that’s the reason the Black Lives Matter movement is going on at the moment.”
Burnley captain Mee, who played with Gray for two seasons at the Lancashire club, said he was “ashamed” and “embarrassed” about the anti-protest and said whoever organised the banner “missed the point” of the Black Lives Matter message.
“He [Mee] spoke really well. Obviously I know Ben really well and he’s a very educated person,” said Gray.
“He’s very clear and open and I think he spoke perfectly, and I think that sums him up as a person.
“I’m a footballer and I played for the club so I wouldn’t have experienced it [racism] like that, but the question is if my younger brother or my friend who’s the same colour as me walked down the street, how would they be treated?
“As footballers we’re in a bit of a privileged position in not receiving that sort of abuse off your own fans, but that’s not what the argument is about here, it’s about everyone else who isn’t in our position.”
