Two Americas
Ole Miss Basketball Players Kneel During National Anthem
Internet users speculate that the players kneeled in response to a local Confederate demonstration.
Continuing a trend that began in the National Football League, several basketball players at the University of Mississippi knelt during the National Anthem before today’s game against the University of Georgia.
“Several Ole Miss players knelt during the national anthem,” said Neal McCready on Twitter.
McCready posted photos of the incident:
Several Ole Miss players knelt during the national anthem. pic.twitter.com/AU2OiWcC6F
— Neal McCready (@NealMcCready) February 23, 2019
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There is speculation that the kneeling was related to a Confederate demonstration on or near the Ole Miss campus taking place during the game. Confederate 901 and Hiwaymen demonstrators reportedly took to the streets of Oxford, Mississippi Saturday afternoon. The players are apparently unaware – despite their enrollment at an institution of “higher learning” – that the Confederate Army was racially integrated.
Anthem kneeling has been the topic of much debate since former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee to protest “racial injustice” in America. Though he has not been able to secure an NFL contract since his antics, he has become a cult figure on the political left.
Kneeling briefly spilled over into the baseball world when Oakland A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell took a knee for the final 20 games of the 2017 season.
This is the first instance of such behavior in college basketball, and one that is likely to reignite debate in a racially-charged political climate.
Ole Miss has not yet commented on the situation.
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