Calling it the “least she could do”
to support NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, out soccer star Megan
Rapinoe knelt as the national anthem played on Sunday.
As The Star-Spangled Banner
played before her Seattle Reign's game against the Chicago Red Stars
in Chicago, Rapinoe took a knee in solidarity with Kaepernick.
“It was very intentional,” she
told reporters after the game. “It was a little nod to
Kaepernick and everything that he's standing for right now.”
Kaepernick, of the San Francisco 49ers,
has refused to stand when the anthem is played to protest racial
injustice. He recently compromised by kneeling.
“I'm not going to stand up to show
pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people
of color,” he told reporters on Friday. “To me, this is bigger
than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other
way.”
Rapinoe said that as “a gay American”
she could identify with Kaepernick's stand.
“Being a gay American, I know what it
means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your
liberties,” she said in comments to American
Soccer Now. “It was something small that I could do and
something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark
some meaningful conversation around it. It’s important to have
white people stand in support of people of color on this. We don’t
need to be the leading voice, of course, but standing in support of
them is something that’s really powerful.”
In a tweet to supporters she added:
“It's the least I can do. Keep the conversation going.”