Out soccer star Megan Rapinoe has vowed
to continue kneeling during the national anthem in solidarity with the NFL's
Colin Kaepernick.
Rapinoe first took a knee as The
Star-Spangled Banner played before her Seattle Reign's game
against the Chicago Red Stars in Chicago on Sunday, September 4.
Kaepernick, of the San Francisco 49ers,
has refused to stand when the anthem is played to protest racial
injustice. He recently compromised by kneeling.
Rapinoe explained why she had joined
Kaepernick in an op-ed tiled Why I Am Kneeling, published
Thursday on The Players' Tribune.
“I haven’t experienced
over-policing, racial profiling, police brutality or the sight of a
family member’s body lying dead in the street,” Rapinoe
wrote. “But I cannot stand idly by while there are people in
this country who have had to deal with that kind of heartache.”
“There is no perfect way to protest.
I know that nothing I do will take away the pain of those families.
But I feel in my heart it is right to continue to kneel during the
national anthem, and I will do whatever I can to be part of the
solution,” she added.