Megan Rapinoe kneeled during the national anthem to support Colin Kaepernick and his protest
“It’s the least I can do. Keep the conversation going.“
Colin Kaepernick is not alone in his protest. The 49ers quarterback recently had the support of teammate Eric Reid during last week’s preseason game against the San Diego Chargers. When the national anthem played, they took a knee.
Now, Kaepernick has the support of U.S. women’s soccer midfielder Megan Rapinoe.
On Sunday during a game between the NWSL’s Seattle Reign and the Chicago Red Stars, Rapinoe went on one knee while her teammates stood during the national anthem.
Part of why she kneeled down was the way Kaepernick’s message has been skewed by the negative criticism that it’s attracted. Rapinoe, who is gay, explained to American Soccer Now’s John Halloran that the United States must continually strive for equality:
“I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it. It’s important to have white people stand in support of people of color on this. We don’t need to be the leading voice, of course, but standing in support of them is something that’s really powerful.”
After the game, Rapinoe went to Twitter and gave a more concise reason:
