Last week while the Georgia GOP was busy suppressing voters, Tennessee was quietly laying the groundwork to do the same. The only difference was the latter was taking it to court.
The basketball court, that is.
After the Eastern Tennessee State University (ETSU) men’s basketball team went viral for kneeling before games, Tennessee’s GOP state senators all signed a letter asking the university to punish the team.
“When they don the jersey of a Tennessee university, the step out of their personal roles and into the role of an ambassador of our state. We expect all those who walk onto the field of play representing our universities to also walk to also walk onto the field of play to show respect for our national anthem.”
The letter was yet another example of the false narrative perpetuated by the GOP. But false narratives don’t deter the party of Trump.
“Most of us are thinking that when you are in that uniform and you are acting as an ambassador for the university and the state, there possibly is a line there that differentiates that freedom of speech,” said State Senator Rusty Crowe.
But support for the players and their right to kneel came from students, alumni, the community and the university.
“We believe that ‘disrespecting the flag’ serves as a red herring fallacy to divert attention away from police brutality, racism, and issues which create much deeper and broader conversations that people just are not ready to have,” said ETSU’s VP of Equity and Inclusion, Keith Johnson, in a statement. “If ‘disrespecting the flag’ were the real issue, uproar would have erupted on January 6th when violent rioters could be seen beating police officers with the
American flag.”
“The young men on our basketball team are not entertainers;” he wrote. “They are living, breathing human beings who once they step off the court, have the potential to be the next George Floyd.”
A week after their letter was published, the Tennessee GOP took things a step further.
At a hearing about university budgets on Wednesday evening, GOP state senators launched an interrogation of ETSU’s president, Dr. Brian Noland.
Senator Jon Lundberg started by questioning Dr. Noland about the student’s actions. Dr. Noland apologized for any hurt that some might have felt, but reiterated that the players meant no disrespect to the flag or those who serve/d. Lundberg wasn’t satisfied and continued to press the issue.
“…and frankly sir, in my mind, putting that knee down gave the bird to our flag sir and I don’t see a difference, tell me what that difference is.” said Lundberg.
“Sir, I deeply regret the feelings of pain and animosity that have emerged across the region.” replied Dr. Noland. “As our players said in their own words on Saturday, they did not intend to disrespect those who have served or the flag. I recognize the pain this has caused and as a university, we are committed to bringing people together to heal the issues that have emerged to rebuild relationships that have been damaged.”
As noted by Anslee Daniel of WJHL who was reporting on the meeting, “There wasn’t a single question or remark about ETSU’s budget presentation during a senate education hearing committee meeting today. However, two local senators chose this time to grill ETSU president Bryan Nolan about the men’s basketball team kneeling.”
This was obviously the goal of these senators. To corner ETSU’s president and sweat him about a perfectly legal, and peaceful, demonstration. But Nolan wasn’t succumbing to their ploy. So after additional questions on the same topic, Nolan ended the inquisition with five simple words.
“Sir, I understand your perspective.”
Later in the inquisition, Nolan did say that it would not be acceptable if the team kneeled again.
In the end, no decisions on university funding were made in that meeting, so we have to wait and see if the actions of the players affect ETSU’s finances. But it’s clear that Tennessee GOP state senators want to lay the groundwork to suppress and punish particular groups of people in Tennesse.
Only now they’re targeting college student athletes of a certain shade.
