United States Women’s National Team star Megan Rapinoe knelt during the national anthem Sunday night before her Seattle Reign battled the Chicago Red Stars to a 2-2 draw. Postgame, Rapinoe described the gesture as “a little nod” to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
The QB’s refusal to stand for the Star-Spangled Banner was a protest against racial injustice and minority oppression came in America. It came earlier this preseason when he decided to remain seated on the bench prior to kickoff of a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers.
This past Thursday night in San Diego, Kaepernick and safety Eric Reid knelt during the national anthem, prior to the Niners taking on the San Diego Chargers.
“It was very intentional,” Rapinoe told the media assembled postgame in Chicago.
“It was a little nod to Kaepernick and everything that he’s standing for right now. I think it’s actually pretty disgusting the way he was treated and the way that a lot of the media has covered it and made it about something that it absolutely isn’t. We need to have a more thoughtful, two-sided conversation about racial issues in this country.”
“Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it. It’s important to have white people stand in support of people of color on this. We don’t need to be the leading voice, of course, but standing in support of them is something that’s really powerful.”
(Transcript via John D. Halloran, of American Soccer Now)
Rapinoe came out of the closet in 2012, and has since been an extremely devoted advocate for LGBT rights. Rapinoe also has been a leading figure in the USWNT’s movement to achieve pay equity, lending her name to a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging wage discrimination.
Wednesday night saw a major backlash against the stance taken by Rapinoe via the Reign’s opponent tonight, the Washington Spirit. The fallout then preluded a statement of support from the team that Rapinoe plays for.
The Spirit are a National Women’s Soccer League franchise owned by a war veteran named Bill Lynch who has lost close personal friends who’ve served in military conflict.
The Spirit statement reads:
“While we respect every individual’s right to express themselves, and believe Ms. Rapinoe to be an amazing individual with a huge heart; we respectfully disagree with her method of hijacking our organization’s event to draw attention to what is ultimately a personal – albeit worthy – cause.”“As a veteran owned team, the national anthem holds an exceptionally special meaning for this organization. Our owner Bill Lynch has lost personal friends during overseas conflicts and has other close friends who have also lost loved ones. Playing the national anthem prior to sports events became standard during World War II and was a way to express the team’s and fan’s patriotism and show support for the U.S. Military.”“The tradition of honoring our military and our patriotism before our games is very important to us. We strongly feel that there are better ways to begin a conversation about a cause than tarnishing a tradition that is so important to so many.”“To willingly allow anyone to hijack this tradition that means so much to millions of Americans and so many of our own fans for any cause would effectively be just as disrespectful as doing it ourselves. Professional athletes have incredible numbers of followers, to which we believe they have the ability to articulate a conversation with objectives and plans and begin a serious conversation directly, or through traditional media appearances, without insulting our military and our fans.”“We do regret that this decision has denied the players who had no intention of taking a knee their own opportunity to honor our great country from the field. This is an issue we are communicating to and with them about personally.”
The Seattle Reign released a statement of their own Wednesday, recognizing that the gesture of Rapinoe “was offensive to some and a source of inspiration to others.”
The Reign statement reads:
“We will continue to encourage all Reign FC players to participate in the pre-match ceremony, which honors those who have served and made sacrifices on our behalf. We will also continue to allow players to participate in the pre-match ceremony in a manner consistent with their personal beliefs, reflecting our respect for the rights earned and defended by those fighting for our nation.”
Rapinoe has said publicly that she will also take a knee during the national anthem of USWNT matches as well. NWSL Commissioner Jeff Plush said that he disagrees with the statement made by Lynch.
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Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
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