![]() “I believe in the goodness of a free society. And I believe that the society can remain good only as long as we are willing to fight for it, and to fight against whatever imperfections may exist.” – Jackie Robinson Moon, Pa. - On Sept. 25, 1789, Congress authorized the First Amendment, which states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble; and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Fast forward 227 years. In September of 2016, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to take a knee instead of standing during the singing of the National Anthem. He said he did this to protest police violence against African-Americans. Controversy quickly arose. Other African-American NFL players joined Kaepernick in this protest. However, the controversy was starting to subside when President Trump made several comments about Kaepernick and the NFL, using language not suitable for kids on national television. Last weekend, many more NFL players took the knee and locked arms to protest. A social media explosion ensued. The protest left me wondering if taking a knee takes place in high school sports. Evidently, it does. The Garfield High School football team in Seattle took the knee a few weeks after Kaepernick did. Their opponent that night joined them. But the biggest story took place only a few minutes from downtown Pittsburgh and at a school that received death threats due to this issue. Cornell High School is one of the smallest schools in Western Pennsylvania, serving 750 students from grades K-12. Dr. Aaron Thomas is the superintendent of the district, whose typical high school graduating class is between 35 and 55 students. Thirty percent of the student body is African-American, and 2% is Hispanic. The majority of students are Caucasian. On the afternoon before a 2016 Raiders football game, nine out of 12 cheerleaders took a knee, without telling anyone of their plans. To make matters worse, the VFW color guard was in attendance. A local television reporter did a story about it. Adults got on board and attacked Thomas. Thomas explained what happened to a local newspaper and apologized to the VFW for their actions. Just when Thomas thought the fire was blown out, it wasn’t. A national news source picked up the story. People from around the country called Cornell for days. Thomas and his family soon started receiving death threats. Next, a woman posted to her Facebook page a twisted version of Thomas’ interview and portrayed him as the mastermind behind what the cheerleaders had done. Seven million people read it. Thomas woke up the next morning to a full inbox of emails from her supporters leaving more death threats to him and his family. People took pictures of Thomas’ small children and his house and posted them on social media. His kids were escorted by police to and from school, and their house was under police supervision for several days. Thomas decided to close football games to the public. Parents of the players couldn’t attend those games. Thomas said that taking a knee during a sporting event has no gray area. “It’s either you’re completely offended and it’s wrong, or you’re on the other side where you’re like, ‘Well, someone has a right to stand, sit or kneel down.'” Thomas told me that he received over 600 death threat emails and thousands of phone calls because of this issue. The First Amendment allows us to say what we want. But targeting a high school, its superintendent and his family go too far. Thomas said he supported his students and their beliefs. “This was basically ruled upon in the 60’s. The kids can do this,” Thomas said. “I can’t force any kid to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance. I can’t force a kid to stand during the National Anthem. I can’t force a kid to pray. I can’t do that from a school standpoint.” When interviewing Thomas, I asked, “Do these cheerleaders know what they’re protesting or are they doing it because they saw an NFL player doing it?” “Nine out of the 12 cheerleaders knelt; it was led by two of them. The other seven did it because their friends did it,” said Thomas. “Two of them had their own reasons. One was based on inequality and something they had read and believed about the original lyrics to the anthem that promoted slavery. And the other girl went on a humanities trip to South Africa the summer before and saw some things and did that out of respect for what she saw.” Should taking the knee exist in high school sports? Yes. I support the First Amendment and Dr. Thomas. If students know what they’re doing and what taking the knee means, I wouldn’t care. Everyone has a right to express themselves and to stand true to the First Amendment. And those who disapprove of that position have the right to express that sentiment. It’s not hurting anyone.
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