Seattle Reign and USA soccer star Megan Rapinoe is the latest athlete to sit or kneel in protest during the national anthem.
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Kaepernick started his protest last month during the National Football League preseason and since then, several National Football League players have joined in the protest, opting to sit or kneel during the Star-Spangled Banner.
And the 31-year-old said after the game that she will continue to kneel going forward as a “nod to” the 49ers quarterback, according to NWSL reporter John Halloran.
Rapinoe, who is an active voice in America against homophobia in sport, revealed after the 2-2 draw that “it was a little nod to Kaepernick”.
Rapinoe added, “Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties”.
Tim Howard, U.S. national team goalkeeper and 2014 World Cup hero, said Monday that he supports Colin Kaepernick’s decision not to stand during the national anthem.
Another powerful message from another powerful athlete.
Rapinoe, who came out publicly in 2012, took a knee when her team Seattle Reign played the Chicago Red Stars on Sunday (4 September). She later expanded on her stance in a phone conversation with retired USWNT legend and ESPN commentator Julie Foudy.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who was born in Germany and has lived with his American wife in Southern California for nearly 20 years, told reporters last week that he sings the “Star-Spangled Banner” because “it’s a gorgeous anthem”. “It is overtly racist”.
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“I get sort of in theory where [the WNBA] is coming from, but it’s just so insensitive and so f*****g stupid that they would fine players for a Black Lives Matter shirt when some of these players might have been affected by something involving that directly”. Even President Barack Obama has weighed in, saying that – as far as he could tell – Kaepernick is “exercising his constitutional right”. “I think he’s talking about something [police treatment of black Americans] that is a hot topic right now in our country and something that has been going on for quite some time, and something that needs to be figured out. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder”. Just need to accept that [it is] not ideal, things are broken. I have to stand up for people that are oppressed.
