“Black people are getting killed and nobody’s going to jail”

Eight-Year-Old Football Players Kneel During Anthem in Protest

September 22, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

From a reader

Youth football players on the Cahokia Quarterback Club’s Junior Comanches team for ages eight and under knelt during the national anthem before their game in protest against the murdering cop who killed Lamar Smith being found not guilty by a judge.  Cahokia is located across the water from St. Louis.

The coach of the team, Orlando Gooden, said, “One of the kids asked me if I saw (people) protesting and rioting in St. Louis. I said yes; I said, ‘Do you know why they are doing it?’”  The player responded, “Because Black people are getting killed and nobody’s going to jail.”

Coach Gooden explained to the team that Colin Kaepernick has led a movement of professional football players in refusing to stand for the anthem “to protest police brutality and social injustice.”  One of the players asked if they could do that.  Gooden told the team, “As long as we know why we’re doing it, I don’t have a problem with any of it.”

All of the parents of the team’s players supported the decision made by their children.

A parent from another team posted on the league’s Facebook page, “I think you all have a good team good coaches and we respect y’all and what you all are doing is right.”

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