In a move that is as unconstitutional as you can get, a Louisiana school district has passed a decree stating student athletes who take a knee during the national anthem will be banned from playing sports. Yup, Ol Donny Boys halfwit rhetoric has trickled down to likeminded constituents on the state and municipal levels of political influence.
WBOY 12News on Twitter
Louisiana School Officials: Students Must Stand for Anthem or Face Loss of Playing Time, Participation https://t.co/19toAYjkL2
The letter, sent to parents and students by Parkway High School Principal Waylon Bates, states that the school now requires student athletes to stand in a respectful manner, warning students that dont comply will be punished with decreased playing time of removal from the team.
By doing so, Principal Bates has knowingly placed his school at odds with the Constitution of the United States of America. See, this is how nationalism can easily devolve into nothing more than fascism.
Last week, Trump used an expletive to describe athletes who have taken a knee during the national anthem to bring attention to police brutality and the oppression of people of color in America during a speech before constituents in Huntsville, Alabama.
His demagoguery would elicit a counter response from the NFL, NBA, MLB and even NASCAR.
Just yesterday, the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears would link arms in unison during the national anthem. However, had it not been for the divisive statements made by the Fuhrer-in-Chief, whos to say if these unity displays would have even happened?
As is the case with just about every type of wide spread behavior exhibited by professional athletes, young and aspiring athletes will replicate that behavior. Everyone who has ever been involved in sports can attest to that.
undefined
undefined
Bossier School District Superintendent Scott Smith wrote that freedom isn’t free and said the district officials expect our student athletes to stand in solidarity when the National Anthem is played. A spokeswoman for the district said Mr Bates was reacting to that guidance, saying this is not a ‘Parkway issue’.
Our principals and their coaching staffs have sole discretion in determining consequences should a student athlete elect not to stand during the National Anthem and they are making their expectations known to players and their families this week, Mr Smith added. As Superintendent, my administration will be in full support of these school-based decisions.
Freedom isn’t free? What the hell does that have to do in THIS context? Nothing. For educators and administrators to knowingly skirt the Constitution in order to uphold the tenets of their own political beliefs is egregious, to say the least.
Though there havent been many instances of students protesting in the state of Louisiana, the possibility of such apparently was not lost on this school district. American society is discussing racism and police brutality like no other time in recent history, but the backlash from those looking to maintain a status quo contrary to diversity and inclusion has been swift.
New York Daily News writer Shaun King published the Parkway High School letter via Twitter and it was retweeted by the American Civil Liberties Union with the caption “The Supreme Court ruled that students don’t have to stand for the Pledge of Allegiancethat goes for the national anthem on the ballfield too.”
The Lawyer’s Committee For Civil Rights Under Law (LCCRUL) is not feeling the school board’s methods and announced that it stands with the students and demands an immediate withdrawal of the principals letter.
Lawyers’ Committee on Twitter
@ShaunKing We’ve taken action against Parkway HS & stand with its student athletes, demanding immediate withdrawal of the principal’s letter
The frustrating part about this situation is these school administrators and educational professionals OBVIOUSLY are aware that the right to free speech extends to children, too. These players, many of whom likely recall the shooting death of Alton Sterling at the hands of police officers, have fears, they have dreams, and they have rights too. And if the school district don’t know now, a well-placed lawsuit will make them find out the hard way. Racism is a cultural malady. To behave as if these student athletes are somehow insulated from the effects of, or unworthy of protesting against, institutional racism is just plain wrong.
