When the Major League Soccer teams FC Dallas and Nashville SC took a knee during the national anthem at the Toyota Stadium in Texas Wednesday, the crowds weren’t so enthusiastic about the dumb virtueless virtue signaling. One fan, according to the Dallas Morning News, even “threw a water bottle at the players and was reportedly escorted out.”
FC Dallas defender Reggie Cannon called the fan response to the performative display of anti-Americanism “absolutely disgusting.”
“You’ve got fans booing you for people taking a stand for what they believe in when millions of other people support this cause,” Cannon said following the game. “How disgraceful is that?”
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Cannon said the Dallas team had previously discussed its plans to kneel during the anthem with the rival team and the league, noting that the team requested “The Star-Spangled Banner” not even be played in the first place.
“We asked for no anthem because we don’t feel it was right for the anthem to be played at this moment,” Cannon asserted, going on to note they were going to take a knee “regardless if the anthem was played or not.”
National anthem plays, all players and refs are kneeling: pic.twitter.com/WGwHCBjdiW
— Angel Madison Franco (@angelmadison_) August 13, 2020
Kneeling for the national anthem at American sporting events used to mark an occasional episode of player activism, kicked off by 49ers player Colin Kaepernick in 2016 to protest so-called systemic racism. As the United States succumbs to a 21st-century woke revolution four years later, the anti-American act of taking a knee at the sound of the nation’s song has become a mainstream symbol for players to engage in feel-good activism, declaring on which side of the culture war they fall.
Now as sports slowly resume delayed seasons, players who refuse to bow to collective group-think that declares their own country as an irredeemably racist empire, built for the sole purpose of oppressing black and indigenous people, are being forced to explain themselves for standing proud for “The Star Spangled Banner” and for honoring the men and women who fought for their freedoms.
