Rights on the pitch: when players take a stand for a cause
of Rita Newton
In 2016, Colin Kaepernick, who was a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers at the time, decided to get down on one knee while the national anthem was playing before the football game. His goal was to protest against police brutality, racial injustice and systemic inequality. He said, “We protest because we love ourselves and we love our people. It was James Baldwin who said, ‘To be black in America and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage most of the time.’ all people? How can you defend the national anthem of a nation that preaches and spreads freedom and justice for all, that is so unfair to so many people living there?” “How can you not get angry when you know you are always at risk of death on the streets or of slavery in the prison system? How can you willfully be blind to the truth of systemic racial injustice?” Kaepernick’s gesture was adopted by several other black players in the National Football League. NFL officials initially opposed the protest, but, after the death of George Floyd, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell backed the protests and won popular support.In August 2020, building on that tradition, players from many other sports, the NBA, WNBA, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer have decided to boycott matches and walk off the pitches to protest systemic racism and police brutality.And over the summer of 2020, bending one knee became a common protest gesture at Black Lives Matter rallies, a gesture considered protected by the first amendment of the American Constitution, the one that protects freedom of expression.Colin Kaepernick has paid dearly for his gesture, since he is no longer been able to find a gig as a professional soccer player since leaving the 49ers in 2017, but today we see new stands from players from all over the world at the Qatar soccer World Cup, from the rainbow signs to the waving flag of Palestine on the day of world-wide victory.
Justice file
.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1)
