Students stage anthem protests
Movement condemning shootings spread to US colleges
LIBERTY guard Brittany Boyd sat on the bench with her head bowed during the national anthem before a WNBA playoff game.
Hours earlier, college football players for Michigan and Michigan State, along with a group of students at North Carolina, raised their fists during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner on Saturday.
Since 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the anthem before NFL preseason games, citing racial injustice and police brutality, his movement has slowly spread across fields and courts in the US.
On Saturday, college athletes and professional athletes joined together to follow his lead after a week punctuated by riots in Charlotte, North Carolina , and the killing of an unarmed black man in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Boyd had sat on the bench during the anthem at the team’s last home game on Sept 13, too. Her New York teammates stood, arms locked with their heads bowed before their WNBA playoff game with Phoenix. Mercury players Mistie Bass and Kelsey Bone kneeled, just as they had done during their first-round playoff game. Bass was inspired that younger athletes were joining an effort that until this weekend, had been mostly led by the pros.
“I think it shows that the younger generations are about this and they did it together,” she said. “They are understanding what is going on in our society. It’s perfect because they are so caught up in their phones. To see them standing up for social injustices and wanting things to be right in their communities I think is awesome.” Most college conferences play the anthem before the teams take the field. — AP