He said his team won’t have to kneel once people start addressing racial injustice.
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The entire Garfield High School football team taking a knee during the national anthem to protest social injustices on September 16, 2016 in Seattle.
On Friday, the Watkins Mill High School football team did the same during the anthem at Damascus High School.
“This came from them”, said Thomas. “It led kids to talk about the social injustice they experience. and it led to coaches to talk about what we go though”.
The recent public protests during the national anthem at sports events began a couple of weeks ago when San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice.
The U.S. national anthem, Francis Scott Key’s “Star Spangled Banner”, is a target of protest in part because its rarely-performed third verse celebrates the defeat of slaves who fought with the British during the War of 1812. “Everybody wants to talk about how this is disrespectful to the American flag”, Thomas explained.
His protest has since sparked similar demonstrations among athletes.
Watkins Mill High School’s head coach, Michael Brown, chose to stand, but he says he can not tell his players either they have to stand or kneel. The entire team, not to mention the officials, will take a knee during the national anthem.at every game for the remainder of the season.
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Located in the heart of Seattle’s African-American neighborhood, Garfield has a long history of political activism and has been at the center of many Black Lives Matter protests over the past year.
