Taking a knee has never been a crime.
It has never physically injured anyone or disrespected veterans, the national anthem, or the flag. The only thing it has done is to bring awareness to crucial causes such as combating racism and police brutality, while also bringing angst and fake anger to those who are part of the problem kneeling is directed towards.
On Saturday, the Kentucky Men’s Basketball team decided to take a united knee in protest over the aforementioned problems and the attempted coup by domestic white terrorists at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC.
“We understood that our gesture would have consequences and we just want people to understand,” said senior Olivier Sarr per The Times Tribune. “We know some people would be mad or pissed but we just want people to understand that it’s a peaceful way to protest and the way we can, using our platform and we just want people to understand to raise awareness and that’s it.”
John Calipari, the Wildcats’ head coach, joined the team in a peaceful sign of protest that day. Despite the outrage from state officials, he continued his support of the team’s decision, taking to his radio show to defend their actions.
“It was all the images that they saw and they wanted to have their voice heard, and I said, well, ‘Tell me what it’s about,’” said Calipari. “They talked to me about it. Then they said, ‘We’d like you to kneel with us,’ which I did. I held my heart, but I did kneel with them because I support the guys. But it wasn’t about military. Six of these players come from military families… This wasn’t about the military.”
But apparently, a lot can change in a few short days as Coach Calipari left his players hanging Wednesday as he moonwalked back on his initial support.
“I didn’t know about it until 90 minutes before the game,” said Calipari in a news conference. “We’ve had a talk since then about — you don’t need to speak, you need to have action,” Calipari said. “How do you bring people together? How do you make a difference? Not just how do you make a statement?
“They’re 18 years old. They’re learning. These kids are good kids. They’ve got good hearts. This political time, probably not a real good time to do it.”
Wait. It was all good just a few days ago. What happened?
Was it pressure from a local Sherriff who burned Kentucky basketball t-shirts? Or maybe it was the call for a resolution by the Knox County Fiscal Court to reallocate tax funds that are normally directed to the University? Regardless, Coach Cal hung his players out to dry, particularly with his statement about timing.
Apparently now the team’s decision to take a knee in response to the attempted coup last Wednesday is poor timing? Did the insurrectionists have better timing in storming the Capitol than the young men on YOUR team who risked backlash in a red state to support the fight against racism and injustice through a REAL peaceful protest?
We witnessed an attack on democracy. We witnessed an attempted coup and the death of five individuals. Seems to me that there is no better time to protest what the MAGA terrorists did than after it happened and in a big SEC match-up where people are watching.
Calipari’s baffling moonwalk continued with key talking points that checked the obligatory boxes and covered his back.
“Um, you know, I have friends in the military. I have friends in the police. I mean, it’s, it’s, this is our country right now.”
It is our country right now Coach, and you should understand what they’re going through, especially as Black and Brown people in a country where we have to abide by a different set of life rules in order to survive in situations others don’t face.
You and your players saw what happened to George Floyd and every other innocent Black person killed by the police.
You and your players saw how MAGA terrorists were allowed to storm the Capitol with essentially no resistance yet Black Lives Matter protestors were met with force and violence.
As a coach who has recruited and produced 31 “one-and-done”, first-round draft picks, almost all of them Black, it’s troubling that Calipari didn’t stick to his guns and reiterate his support for his players, ones who could never get away with what we witnessed at the Nation’s Capitol.
“You know,” continued Calipari. “Hopefully going forward, we’re going to figure out and help them, uh, have some actions that are not in front of the TV, but things that they can do to bring people together and make a difference.”
They did that coach. And based upon your statement it’s obvious they’re not the ones who need to figure things out.
