Even cheerleaders are kneeling during national anthem

[sarisataka]

Even cheerleaders are kneeling during national anthem


Athletes across the country have been sitting or kneeling during the national anthem in recent weeks to protest police brutality and racism.

But a football game in Washington, D.C. may mark the first time a squad of cheerleaders has taken a knee during the song.

Cheerleaders at Howard University joined a national protest on Saturday afternoon by kneeling during the anthem at the AT&T Nation's Football Classic at RFK Stadium.

Zachary Johnson, executive president of Howard's school of communications, posted a photo of the cheerleaders to Twitter during the game. It's since attracted more than 6,700 retweets and almost 10,000 likes.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/20/sport/howard-cheerleaders-national-anthem-protest-irpt/index.html

[Dawson Leery]

1. Good to see.

This jingoism in sports needs to stop.
Minorities are treated as second class citizens and this is the perfect time to protest.

[Lithos]

9. Agree

Call it jingoism or branding, it has got to stop..

People should not be forced to be patriotic. Being patriotic is something which should happen spontaneously.

L-

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

16. If an entire group, like a cheer squad, kneels during the national anthem, ...

... I'd bet at least a few were "forced", or peer-pressured, into kneeling.

Or maybe "Protest" doesn't need to happen spontaneously.

Maybe some would have preferred to stand, or to sit, or to stand facing backwards, or to stand with a fist in the air. Or maybe all chose, independently, to kneel.

[Lithos]

17. Peer pressure and conformity

Are some of the big hallmarks of control by culture - be it, Religion, Nationalism/Patriotism, Dress, etc. And after a time, people may believe it because the need for conformity has been instilled.

That is the flip side of the Burkha/Burkini/Veil issue. It's ok for an individual to choose it, but when does choice represent the product of cultural pressure which may also represent demeaning and bias?

L-

[obamanut2012]

20. It's Howard University

They literally have skin in this fight.

[cwydro]

2. That picture is kind of weird.

It doesn't seem to be during the anthem...check out the others in the pic.

[Ilsa]

3. I think others are clapping because it's polite when the anthem is sung

by a live person. At least, that's the moment I think they caught.

[cwydro]

4. Perhaps.

Very strange pic to me.

But hey, whatever makes people happy.

[jalan48]

6. They could be clapping to show solidarity with the cheerleaders.

[GulfCoast66]

7. I think

They are clapping in support of the young ladies taking a knee. Notice the race of most of the folks clapping. The look at the people standing at the end of the field with their hands on their hearts.

[lastlib]

5. people near the fence have hands over their hearts.

who knows?

[AlbertCat]

8. "even" cheerleaders?

Like cheerleaders are a demographic that ordinarily wouldn't want to support something?

[kacekwl]

10. Really ?

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. Yes, really. It struck me like that, too.

[AlbertCat]

12. Really ?

Yes yes really.

I found it a quite bizarre way to word it.

[sarisataka]

23. It is an odd choice of words

The link on the main CNN page now is 'Cheerleaders Kneel for Anthem, too', however the actual title of the article remains unchanged.

[frankieallen]

13. hmm, every one of them is kneeling? 14 ladies all feel exactly the same way...

peer pressure anyone?

[LanternWaste]

19. Though no doubt, if all 14 were standing, no one would question (let alone notice) solidarity...

Though no doubt, if all 14 were standing, no one would question (let alone notice) solidarity of sentiment.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

14. Cheerleaders Take A Knee When A Player Is Injured

And the fans generally clap to support that injured player when he comes off the field. Here we have cheerleaders kneeling, people in the stands clapping (people don't clap until the end of the National Anthem, if at all), a guy in the bottom left corner with a hat on, a guy in the bottom middle of the picture with a hat on, a guy to the extreme left of the picture with a hat on, at least two cops against the white fence NOT saluting the flag, and of the 4 guys lined up in front of that wooden bench, one of them has his hands crossed in front of his crotch, one has his hand in front of his mouth, one looks like he might be clapping, and the one on the end COULD be putting his hand over his heart (or he could have his hand in that position for any number of different reasons). I see no evidence that ANYONE in this picture is doing anything typical of a person who is observing the National Anthem.

All available evidence in this picture indicates to me that this is NOT a picture of the stadium during the National Anthem. I would suggest that it looks MORE like there has been an injury on the field and the player is being taken off the field.

[bigwillq]

15. Awesome

[LanternWaste]

18. In this case, your use of 'even' seems misplaced... at best

"Even cheerleaders are kneeling..."

In this case, your use of 'even' (an adverb used to emphasize a comparative, or to suggest that something mentioned as a possibility constitutes an extreme case or an unlikely instance) seems misplaced... at best.

[sarisataka]

22. It is my custom

To present the headline of an article without editing the author's words.
If I were writing I would have chose different words.

[obamanut2012]

21. For those not in the know -- Howard is an HBCU

One of the elite HBCUs.