A’s participate in racial justice protest before opener
Major League Baseball players have been taking a knee before and during the playing of the national anthem during Opening Day this season.
The A’s and Los Angeles Angels held a long black cloth draped around the baseball diamond in unity — the same protest most other teams have done before Friday night’s season opener.
The A’s Tony Kemp and Khris Davis held their fists in the air during the playing of the national anthem.
In the wake of George Floyd’s killing by a Minneapolis police officer in May, Kemp started the +1Effect campaign to ignite a dialogue between Black people and people hoping to learn and understand the forms of protest that swept the nation.
Kemp stated during camp that he planned to protest in unity with other Black players that formed a group called The Players Alliance. The group describes itself as a group of
“Black baseball players that felt voiceless in expressing social issues regarding their culture as the stark minority in our game.” They put together the video of Black players discussing their mission that has been played before games.
The A’s in this alliance include Kemp, Davis and Marcus Semien.
A’s players and staff, as a collective, released a statement before the game:
“As the Players and Staff of the Oakland A’s, we are proud to support our Black teammates and other Black players across the game by participating in MLB’s Opening Night activities. As a team, we believe Black lives matter and we are committed to supporting racial justice in this country.”
Similar to other teams around the league, the A’s were provided black Tshirts with “Black Lives Matter” emblazoned on the front in white block letters. The A’s held a team meeting prior to the season opener against the Los Angeles Angels to discuss how the team might approach a pregame activity, cognizant of the national television audience that would be watching.
Former A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell was the first MLB player to take a knee during the anthem back in 2017. Though Maxwell faced backlash and death threats from outside the Coliseum walls, the A’s fully supported his decision.
Manager Bob Melvin and the coaching staff told the team today that they were free to express themselves and use their platform as athletes however they pleased.
“Now it seems like there’s more peaceful protesting going on,” Semien, wearing a Black Lives Matter Tshirt, said before Friday’s game. “If people don’t understand why, that’s a problem. A lot of people understand why, and change is happening because of it. I’m participating in what we’re doing as a team. People will see that, then it’s time to play ball.”
A group of Mariners players raised their fists during the anthem before their game with the Astros.