USWNT wants an apology
Says USSF’s repeal of kneeling ban not enough
The U.S. women's national soccer team wants its governing body to do better than just repealing its kneeling ban.
In a statement posted to the USWNT players' Twitter page Monday night, the team not only called for a repeal of the “Anthem Policy” but demanded an apology from the U.S. Soccer Federation for having the policy in the first place. The full statement:
“We believe the Federation should immediately repeal the ‘Anthem Policy,' publish a statement acknowledging the policy was wrong when it was adopted, and issue an apology to our Black players and supporters. Further, we believe the Federation should lay out its plans on how it will now support the message and movement that it tried to silence four years ago.
“Until USSF does so, the mere existence of the Policy will continue to perpetuate the misconceptions and fear that clouded the true meaning and significance of Colin Kaepernick, Megan Rapinoe and other athletes taking a knee — that Black people in America have not been and continue to not be afforded the same liberties and freedoms as white people and that police brutality and systemic racism exist in this country,
“This is everybody's responsibility, including this union and its members; we could and should have done more in the past. We are committed to rising up against racist, hateful and unjust acts to effect change.
“Black lives matter.” No kneeling during the playing of the national anthem was a policy the United States Soccer Federation put in place in 2017. The policy was a direct response to Rapinoe, who began kneeling during national team games in 2016 in solidarity with Kaepernick, who started the movement while playing with the NFL's San Francisco 49ers. The action was meant to be a peaceful protest against racial injustice and police brutality.
But USSF and the NFL silenced both because of the gross misconception and inaccurate criticism that the protest was a sign of disrespect for the American flag and U.S. troops — USSF implemented the Anthem Policy and the NFL effectively blackballed Kaepernick.
On Monday, a report surfaced that the USSF board would be meeting via conference call on Tuesday to discuss the Anthem Policy with plans to vote Friday on whether to repeal the measure. Though there's no word on how the board members will vote, new federation president Cindy Parlow Cone had enough support as of Monday from board members to consider repealing the policy, according to ESPN.
USSF's move comes after the second-straight week of protests calling for justice for George Floyd — a black man from Minnesota who was killed while in police custody — an end to racism and to defund police departments around the country.
Floyd's death sparked national and even international outrage; seven days after Floyd's death, all 50 states, the U.K., Germany, France, Syria, Brazil, Mexico, New Zealand and dozens more countries had held protests.
A petition also surfaced Monday night calling on USSF to reinstate its Diversity and Inclusion committee.
“US Soccer, the country and the world need to be united in the belief and expression that Black Lives Matter,” the description, written by petition creators the American Soccer Trust. “And the change that follows must not be performative or superficial. So to ensure that soccer effectively plays its role in shaping a better future for all through the game, we call on US Soccer to reinstate the US Soccer Diversity and Inclusion Committee.”
USSF has had a Diversity and Inclusion committee in place since at least 2015, but since then the committee was slowly defunded, according to the American Soccer Trust.
“The system is not working for the underserved community,” Doug Andreassen, the chairman of the Diversity Task Force created by the committee said just one year after it was formed. “It's working for the white kids.”