WHY I KNEEL

Each season as a collegiate athlete, not once did I stand for the national anthem. I knelt for about a minute and fifteen seconds before the start of each game as a form of protest. I have no qualms with the original poem, Francis Scott Key, Betsy Ross, the colors red, white, and blue, or stars and stripes. I protest the country that the song and the flag represent. 

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As a result of this, there was criticism and ridicule. Many of my opponents refused to shake my hand before and after each match - which is customary in the sport of volleyball. Fans would comment on how it bothered them, or how my protest was inappropriate and disrespectful. People accused me of trying to garner attention, and not having a legitimate political or social stance. All of this - to me -  was not a lot to endure. There was no decision to be made. How other people felt, or acted would not dictate anything. I felt as though my protest was important enough to continue to do despite the backlash. 

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My head coach, early in the season, approached me before a practice to inquire about my intentions behind kneeling. He subsequently told me that his father had served in the military, to which I sincerely responded, “I have the utmost respect for the military. My cousin is in Kuwait right now. I mean no disrespect to our troops and everyone who puts their life on the line for us. The flag represents them, but it also represents so much more.” 

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I kneel because I love my country. Wholeheartedly. And along with anything anyone loves, I hold it to a high standard.

 

I kneel because this country does not stand for all of its people, because I know it can. I kneel because this country does not justly treat people because of their race, because I believe it should. I kneel for a country where Darren Wilson, Daniel Pantaleo, and killers who disguise themselves with badges of the law walk free, because I know they shouldn’t. I protest because a “country of immigrants,” doesn’t truly support any, when it is one of our founding principles. I don’t stand for a country that doesn’t stand for me. 

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My country isn’t truly great, and it never has been. But it has always had the potential to. 

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People stand for the anthem for a variety of reasons. To pay respects for the troops, to salute the principles of justice and freedom. But one of the main reasons to stand is to be in unity. To stand together for a song that embodies the only thing we truly have in common, being American. But how can I stand in unity for a country that isn’t united? We are more divided now than ever. Politically, racially, economically. You may ask, isn’t kneeling just adding to that? In a way, it is. 

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When my coach asked me why I was kneeling, the first thing I said was “to start a conversation.” To have people address that we, as a people of this nation, are not one - are not united. We are all not treated equally, we’re not punished equally, and we don’t have equal experiences based on things that we cannot control. No one chooses what race they are born into, or how much money their family has. Nevertheless, we can choose to talk about it. We can choose to change it. No change comes with an act of complacency. I can believe whatever I want, but if I don’t do anything about it, it doesn’t matter.