U.S. Soccer owes its black players and fans an apology for banning kneeling during the national anthem, says the U.S. Women’s National Team.
The team said in a statement to Buzzfeed News on Monday that it wants U.S. Soccer to support the message behind the 2016 decision of the team’s star player Megan Rapinoe to become the first major white athlete to kneel during the national anthem in solidarity with former NFL player Colin Kaepernick.
“The Federation should immediately repeal the ‘Anthem Policy,’ publish a statement acknowledging the policy was wrong when it was adopted, and issue an apology to our Black players and supporters,” the players said.
The call to repeal the policy comes amid protests against police brutality and systemic racism after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in police custody last month. Floyd died after a white officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. The officer, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with second-degree murder while three other officers involved in Floyd’s arrest were charged with aiding and abetting murder.
Rapinoe, who is gay, said in 2016 that she knelt during the anthem because she understood “what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties.”
U.S. Soccer will hold a special board meeting on Tuesday to debate its anthem policy, which currently requires players to “stand respectfully” during the anthem at national team games. No board members voted against the current policy when it first passed in 2017.
