Civil rights groups across the country are calling on the NFL to change its new policy that will punish teams if any player kneels during the national anthem during the upcoming season.
The groups, which include the NAACP, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Immigration Law Center, the National Action Network, the Advancement Project, the Arab American Institute and, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, called for the reversal in a letter that was sent to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
“This policy represses peaceful, non-disruptive protest of police violence against unarmed African Americans and other people of color,” the groups wrote in the letter, which was provided to USA Today. “It is disappointing that a league built on grit and competition lacks the constitution to stomach a call for basic equality and fairness.”
The groups are seeking a meeting with Goodell to discuss the rule further and attempt to get him to abolish it.
In the letter to Goodell, the groups also took the NFL to task about its lack of diversity. According to the groups, all NFL team CEOs and presidents are white as are 75 percent of the head coaches, while 75 percent of the league’s players are African-American.
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