Kneeling during the national anthem is the 21st century’s version of the sit-in.
Following in the footsteps of pros like Colin Kaepernick and Michael Bennett, an entire team of 25 players, all eight years old or younger, from Belleville, Illinois, knelt during the national anthem, per Fox’s St. Louis affiliate.
As Orlando Gooden, the coach of the Cahokia Quarterback Club team told Fox, the decision to do the silent protest was a reaction to the controversial verdict in St. Louis in which a white, ex-police officer was acquitted of fatally shooting an African-American man.
The citywide protests began last Friday, following the former officer’s acquittal.
The team’s coach, who also joined the protest, told Fox that a player asked if the team could protest like Kaepernick, to which he replied, “As long as we know why we’re doing it, I don’t have a problem with any of it.”
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