Kneeling during anthem leaves basketball team suspended. Virginia college explains why
After suspending its men’s basketball team for kneeling during the national anthem at recent games, the president of Bluefield College in Virginia has issued a statement explaining the school’s decision.
President Dr. David Olive put out a lengthy statement on the one-game suspensions, which resulted in a forfeit of the team’s match-up against Reinhardt University on Thursday.
According to the statement, after a local TV station captured footage of Bluefield athletes kneeling during the national anthem prior to their contest against Bryan College on Saturday, Jan. 30, the president said that a meeting was held with basketball coach Richard Morgan and Vice President for Bluefield college athletics Tonia Walker to discuss the situation going forward.
“After discussing the situation, I shared with Coach Morgan that kneeling during the anthem would not be allowed going forward, and I instructed him to share that with his team,” Olive said in the statement. “I then instructed VP Walker to communicate this prohibition to all the head coaches so that similar incidents would not occur with other teams.”
Olive went on to explain that the decision came from his “own awareness of how kneeling is perceived by some in our country, and I did not think a number of our alumni, friends, and donors of the College would view the act of kneeling during the anthem in a positive way.”
After players kneeled again during the anthem at Truett McConnell University on Feb. 2, Morgan kept his players in the locker room as the anthem played during the following away game at Columbia International University on Feb. 4.
“Again, I reached out to Coach Morgan to offer my willingness to meet and talk with the team,” Olive said. “I further told them that their intended message in bringing awareness of racial injustices was being diluted or completely lost because some saw their act of kneeling as being disrespectful to the flag, our country, and to our veterans. In my opinion, their message was not being heard.
“As we talked, team members shared their intent was not to be disrespectful to the flag; rather, it was just the opposite. They also shared personal stories of their communities and life experiences. Some shared their own experiences with racial injustices, while also citing numerous injustices they have witnessed others enduring, even to the point of death.”
Olive stated that the decision to suspend the athletes after they once again kneeled during their home game against Tennessee Wesleyan University on Feb. 9 was a “challenging process for all parties involved.”
The sanction follows years of both college and professional athletes protesting racial injustice during the playing of the anthem. On Monday, The Athletic reported that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban confirmed that the team ceased playing the anthem during their 13 preseason and regular-season games at the American Airlines Center.
After the article was released, the NBA issued a statement that all teams will play the anthem “in keeping with longstanding league policy,” the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
Cuban issued a statement shortly after: “We respect and always have respected the passion people have for the anthem and our country. But we also loudly hear the voices of those who feel that the anthem does not represent them. We feel that their voices need to be respected and heard, because they have not been.”
Olive closed the statement on the suspension by making an offer he gave to the suspended team.
“I will kneel with you anywhere at any time as an expression of my solidarity with you to bring about racial justice and equality, except during the National Anthem,” he wrote.
The full statement can be read here.
This story was originally published February 11, 2021 at 3:10 PM with the headline "Kneeling during anthem leaves basketball team suspended. Virginia college explains why."