Colin Kaepernick’s controversial protest has grown within the NFL. Now, it’s spreading to entirely different sports.
Megan Rapinoe, a star player on the U.S. women’s national team, knelt during the playing of the national anthem of the Seattle Reign FC’s Sunday night game against the Chicago Red Stars.
Here’s what she had to say afterwards, via American Soccer Now:
“It was very intentional,” said Rapinoe. “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.”
Kneeling during the national anthem is not going away any time soon.
