University of Kansas volleyball players took a knee ahead of the national anthem before their match against Baylor on Saturday.
While they stood for the anthem itself, the moment before the anthem was meant to reflect on social justice issues in the US — mainly the recent police killing of Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“We decided we wouldn’t do it for the anthem because we want to have respect for our country,” middle blocker Kayla Cheadle told The Lawrence Journal-World. “We felt doing it before the anthem would be more respectful and send a positive message.”
“Our team is as diverse as any volleyball team in the country,” Kansas coach Ray Bechard told The Journal-World. “We come from all different backgrounds, but we still know what it’s like to treat each other the right way, be compassionate for each other, be tolerant of views, and the team thought what a great message to send.”
#kuvball knelt down as a team for a moment of reflection on social injustice, then stood for our national anthem #OneTeam pic.twitter.com/KvH8Affp75
— Kansas Volleyball (@KUVolleyball) October 1, 2016
The act echoes others that of other athletes across the country, most notably Colin Kaepernick, a San Francisco 49ers quarterback, who sat during the anthem before a game to protest racial injustice and police shootings of black people in the US. His protest has inspired teams to sit or kneel during the anthem, and has drawn both backlash and support from politicians, members of the military, other athletes, and the public.
Three black volleyball players at West Virginia Tech University kneeled during the anthem before a game earlier in September in solidarity with Kaepernick.
Keyonna Morrow, an outside hitter, told a local Fox News affiliate she supported Kaepernick’s right to protest during the anthem.
“He’s exercising his right to choose to sit or stand, so you have to recognize that he’s got that right,” Morrow said.
“Everyone should be treated equally, no matter their color age, sex, anything,” she continued. “Everyone needs to be on one page. Everyone needs to be treated the same way.”
Players at DeSoto High School, near Dallas, did the same. They told a local NBC station that they choose to kneel in protest because “the next black man shot could be their dad, brother, or boyfriend.”
“I support their decision 100 percent,” DeSoto coach Rhea Reed told NBC5. “In no way does their stance take away from their love of country, our servicemen and women, or the flag. It is an outcry for compassion, understanding, and change.”
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