The public wants athletes representing the United States at international sporting events like the Olympics to be respectful of the American flag and the national anthem, according to a national poll.
An I&I/TIPP poll taken after Team USA hammer thrower Gwen Berry protested “The Star-Spangled Banner” during the Olympic qualifiers ceremony found 79% of the public opposes similar protests. This includes 61% of black Americans and 69% of Hispanic Americans who said it was important “for professional athletes to publicly respect the American flag on the international level.”
Sixty percent said a respectful showing was “very important,” while 16% of those surveyed said they did not think it was important.
While a breakdown of those polled showed general agreement across the board, Republicans and conservatives were more apt than Democrats or liberals to say a respectful display was important.
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The poll found 93% of Republicans and conservatives said athletes’ respect for the anthem was important while abroad. That figure dropped to 72% of Democrats and 60% of liberals who agreed.
Independents and centrists were in between the major parties as 74% and 81%, respectively, said honoring the anthem was important.
The only group without a majority to say professional athletes should honor the flag and anthem were young people. Forty-nine percent agreed, and 39% disagreed, suggesting the protests should be allowed.
After placing third at the U.S. Track and Field Olympics qualifier on June 26, Berry turned away from the flag and draped a T-shirt that read “activist athlete” over her head during the playing of the national anthem.
Despite the backlash, Berry said she was unsure if she would protest at the Olympics in Tokyo should she place in her event.
“We’ll see,” Berry said July 1. “It just depends on how I’m feeling and what I want to do in that moment.”
“Let’s be clear — I do respect the Constitution because, obviously, I was exercising my constitutional right,” she added. “But I will not stand for any type of symbol or song that does not stand for all people in America.”
She added: “We need to be talking about the racial and social injustice issues that the black community still faces to this day. It’s the same thing, and people are trying to divert the attention to a song and a flag when that’s not even the biggest thing we need to be focusing on right now.”
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The qualifier was not the first time Berry caused controversy during the playing of the national anthem at an international event.
After winning the gold medal at the 2019 Pan-American Games in Lima, Peru, she put her fist in the air during the national anthem. The posture reportedly cost her sponsorship deals.
The I&I/TIPP poll was conducted by TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence between June 30 and July 2 among 1,424 adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
