by Rose Williams
A local high school softball team kneeled for the national anthem at a recent game, earning an understanding explanation from their school which said they were protesting for “social justice.”
Alpha News received a video of the Robbinsdale-Cooper girls softball team kneeling as the Star-Spangled Banner was played before a recent game. Only two of the fourteen players pictured remained standing for the national anthem.
“Whether as adults we agree or disagree, our students feel it is about a social movement and injustice,” Robbinsdale-Cooper High School said in a statement to Alpha News. The school further explained that the students’ actions are protected by the First Amendment. Any policy requiring students to stand for the Star Spangled Banner, the school continued, is unconstitutional.
“Public schools cannot discipline students for silent acts of political protest, like kneeling for the anthem or refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance, that do not disrupt the operations of a school,” the statement added.
However, other schools do not take such a permissive stance. Just last fall, an athletic director for Century High School in Rochester made a speech at a pep rally telling students they must stand for the anthem. This stance made local news with some outlets reporting that this contradicts the Minnesota State High School League’s policies.
Other high schools including two Minneapolis high schools, Edina schools and Catholic schools Totino-Grace and Cristo Rey Jesuit have also made headlines for students protesting the national anthem.
A community member sent Alpha News this video of the students kneeling:
The local VFW that donated $3,000 to the Robbinsdale-Cooper softball team was not available for comment.
– – –
Rose Williams is an assistant editor for Alpha News.
Photo “Softball Team Kneeling” by Alpha News.
