Bluefield College, a NAIA school in Virginia, lost its men’s basketball game on Thursday after the school’s president suspended several players for kneeling during the national anthem.
President David Olive, who is white, said he told the players to stop kneeling during the protest anthem. When they continued, he decided to suspend everyone involved.
This forced the team to lose the game against Reinhardt on Thursday night.
“The basis for my decision came from my own awareness of how kneeling is seen by some in our country, and I didn’t think that several of our former students, friends and donors from the College would see the act of kneeling during the hymn. in a positive way, “said Olive.
President suspends players after hearing of protests
Olive, according to the report, said that she only learned that the basketball team players were kneeling to hear the anthem in protest on February 1, after media reports emerged – something they did in several previous games, both in home and on the road. He told coach Richard Morgan that the protest would not be tolerated by him.
The players, however, knelt down during the anthem at a game the following day. Two days later, Morgan kept his team in the locker room during the hymn. Olive reached out to the team once again and said she supported their message, but she didn’t like it during the national anthem.
“I even told them that their intended message to raise awareness of racial injustices was being diluted or completely lost because some saw their kneeling as a disrespect to the flag, our country and our veterans,” said Olive. “In my opinion, their message was not being heard.”
The team knelt again during the hymn on February 8, and Olive responded by saying that there would be “consequences”. Then he suspended the players – and told them that any potential violation of First Amendment rights did not apply here.
Players would have been told they could kneel
Apparently, members of the basketball team have been told that they cannot speak or make any statement on the matter, the Bluefield football player Jewels Gray.
However, Gray, who is close to the team, is confused by the suspensions. He said the team was told before the season started that they could kneel down in protest – something commonly seen in the sports world that does not disrespect the flag or the country.
“Why would our school contradict what they said?” Gray said: “We had meetings before the season with [the athletic director] and the president, and they said we can get on our knees and they’ll support us and stay 100% behind us ”.
Since the suspensions, Gray and other members of the football team have abandoned training – they are playing a spring season due to the COVID-19 pandemic – in solidarity with the basketball team.
Today I defended what I believe in and protested peacefully against social injustice during my football training. Color inequality has occurred on my college campus and within my community against student athletes recently and this is wrong.
I hope to have support for tweeting ✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 pic.twitter.com/FrayzzrAH3– Jewels Gray (@ 15_toetap) February 11, 2021
“I didn’t think the football team should practice when the basketball team can’t play, just because they stood up for what they believe in,” said Gray. “I protested the practice peacefully, but I didn’t ask anyone to leave the practice with me. I got up before [the team prayer] and spoke and let them know what was going on. I know that we all have a goal. “
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