Roughly 155 band students from Oakland decided to follow Kaepernick’s example by grabbing a knee while they played “The Star Spangled Banner”. The crowd broke out in ““enthusiastic applause” but it has yet to be seen if it was cheers of approval or just because they were at an “A’s game”.
While not the best form of protest when it comes to social norms, the group practiced their First Amendment rights in response to what they feel is police brutality and unfair treatment of the African American population. School districts around the nation are upholding those rights and backing their students.
However, one must ask if this is the idea of the students or influence of the teachers. Now that would change the whole scenario now wouldn’t it.
Breitbart has the full story:
“The OUSD Honor Band played the National Anthem before tonight’s Oakland A’s game,” the district’s Facebook page noted. “Toward the end of the song, most of the 155 middle and high school students took a knee in protest against police brutality and unfair treatment of people of color in America. The crowd responded with enthusiastic applause.”
The collective taking of a knee occurred in the outfield right before the band launched into the song’s “and the home of the brave” coda. The “enthusiastic applause” came around the anthem’s end when sports fans invariably start cheering. So, it remains unclear whether spectators cheered because they always cheer at the song’s conclusion or because the students took a political stand by taking a knee.
The group gesture comes in the wake of Colin Kaepernick sitting and kneeling for the national anthem this season. In imitation, some students around the country, but particularly in the Bay Area, imitate the San Francisco 49ers quarterback. All but one member of San Francisco’s Mission High School, for instance, knelt in protest during “The Star Spangled Banner” before a loss on Friday night. The entire team did so the previous game.