All the US crew, clad of their warmup jackets with the phrases “Black Lives Matter” on the entrance, stood for the nationwide anthem forward of their SheBelieves Cup sport on Sunday after some had knelt within the match opener final Thursday.
US defender Crystal Dunn stated no vote was taken to cease the kneeling gesture however somewhat it was a collective choice by a crew prepared to maneuver previous the protesting part.
“I feel those who had been collectively kneeling felt like we had been kneeling to result in consideration to police brutality and systemic racism,” stated Dunn.
“We determined that shifting ahead we not really feel the necessity to kneel as a result of we’re doing the work behind the scenes. We’re combating systemic racism.
“We by no means felt we had been going to kneel ceaselessly, so there was all the time going to be a time that we felt it was time to face.”
The act of kneeling in the course of the nationwide anthem had all however disappeared from sport, however returned final yr after George Floyd died in Minneapolis final Might when a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost 9 minutes. His demise sparked protests throughout the USA over police brutality.
Final June, US Soccer’s board of administrators voted to repeal a coverage that required gamers to face for the nationwide anthem, a rule put in place after Megan Rapinoe kneeled in assist of Colin Kaepernick, who popularized the gesture whereas taking part in for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers.
Dunn, who’s one in all seven Black or biracial gamers on the U.S. crew’s present 23-player roster, stated she felt the squad are ready to face shifting ahead given their efforts off the sphere to fight systemic racism.
“Despite the fact that we’re selecting to face, it does not imply that the conversations go away, or they cease,” stated Dunn.
“It is all to say that we at the moment are, I feel, prepared to maneuver previous the protesting part and truly transfer into placing all the discuss into precise work.”
The US beat Canada and Brazil of their first two video games of the SheBelieves Cup and finis the four-team round-robin match on Wednesday with a conflict in opposition to winless Argentina.
