The United States Football Federation’s athlete council removed a member on Sunday after he gave a seven-minute speech filled with false statements and racist allegations at a recent meeting on the players’ right to protest.
The federation in June voted 71 percent in favor of the repeal 2017 policy requiring athletes to stand during the national anthem, after US Women’s National Team player (USWNT) Megan Rapinoe became the first non-NFL to join Colin Kaepernick’s knee protest.
The vote – 71% in favor with only a simple majority required – directly followed this sensational seven-minute dissent from Seth Jahn, a Paralympic athlete from the United States who is currently a member of the United States Football Athletes Council. pic.twitter.com/vH4Pc4vkT4
– Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) February 27, 2021
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“After holding senior positions in senior teams, youth teams and a national team player, a large number [of] the biggest names in our federation vehemently disagree with kneeling behind closed doors, of course, but they are ostracized for expressing their positions within the team or publicly, which I am not afraid to do. I won the right. I promised to keep their identities hidden, but how do you think it affects the culture and cohesion of the team and its performance? United we resisted, divided we kneel, “said former US national and Paralympic captain Seth Jahn, who voted against the repeal.
In a statement, the board said it “wants to be unequivocal in its condemnation of the statements that Mr. Jahn made yesterday” and that “it does not tolerate this type of language and considers it incompatible with participation in the board”.
Statement by the Athletes’ Council regarding Seth Jahn. pic.twitter.com/lYhsdn9BZu
– Chris Ahrens (@chrisahrens) March 1, 2021
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In his speech, the 38-year-old man dismissed the question of police brutality against black Americans as “a statistical anomaly” and invoked a false statistic pretending to represent “black against black crime”, which many critics consider it a dangerous and racist myth. Much of his argument against athletes’ protests against police brutality and slavery revolved around the idea that these problems are universal, saying that “there is racism in all races” and “all races … have been enslaved”. He also minimized slavery, falsely claiming that the United States was the only country to fight to end slavery (Mexico did that even before the USA).
“I lived in Africa for two and a half years where I could buy people – slaves – between $ 300 and $ 800 per person, per capita, depending on their age, health and physicality,” said Jahn, who cited his “mixed race identity” itself, claiming to represent the Aniwaya clan of the Cherokee Nation, and invoked his time in the military.
Rapinoe applauded the federation’s move, calling it “local”.
Leadership. . Spot on Becky https://t.co/41Qfb44rI4
– Megan Rapinoe (@mPinoe) February 28, 2021
“Seth is entitled to his own opinion – he, however, is not entitled to his own set of facts, nor do I think he should use such facts in a way that misinforms and overshadows the real issues in question,” said Becky Sauerbrunn, the current USWNT captain.
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