The Bluefield College men’s basketball team (Bluefield, Virginia) was forced to lose its NAIA match against Reinhardt on Thursday after school president David Olive stopped players for kneeling during the national anthem in January and early February. Olive, who is white, told ESPN in a statement that he had suspended the players ahead of Thursday’s match after previously instructing them not to kneel during the national anthem. ESPN reported that Olive had ongoing discussions with players, coach Richard Morgan and sports director Tonya Walker about the practice, but only released a comment after media reports surfaced last week. “The basis of my decision stemmed from my own awareness of how kneeling is seen by some in our country, and I didn’t think that a number of our alumni, friends, and college donors would witness the kneeling process during the national anthem in a positive way,” Olive told ESPN.MORE: Mark Cuban, Mavs reversed On the national anthem, he will comply with NBAPer ESPN, Olive becomes aware that the players are kneeling on February 1 and immediately tells Morgan that he will not be tolerated. Players ignored the directive the next day; Morgan kept his team in the locker room while the national anthem was played on February 4. Olive added that he understood the players’ message and supported calls for racial justice, but he told the players that he had not condoned their method of protesting racial inequality. ”She also told them that their intended message of spreading awareness of racial injustice had been weakened or completely lost because some saw their work in Kneeling is disrespecting the flag and our country and its veterans. ” Footballer Jewels Gray, a close associate of many of the team’s players, said Olive’s current message to the team contradicts what they were told earlier this season. He added that the players have been informed not to issue a statement or speak to the media. To that end, Olive said that a player’s First Amendment rights have not been violated because Bluefield is a private school. “Why does our school contradict what they said?” Gray told ESPN. “We had pre-season meetings with (the sporting director) and the president, and they stated that we can kneel and that they will support us and be 100 percent behind us.” More: Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling schedule: How protests during the national anthem kicked off a movement in NFLGray that decided to support the basketball team and protest their suspension on Wednesday by breaking out of practice; The Rams are playing the spring season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and they will play a match on Saturday. His tweet explaining his intentions was retweeted by several basketball players. Today I defended what I believe and peacefully protested social injustice while playing football. Colorful inequality has occurred on college campuses and within my community against student athletes recently and that’s a mistake, I hope I get support on Twitter ✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 pic.twitter.com/FrayzzrAH3 – Jewels Gray (@ 15_toetap) February 11, 2021 Gray told ESPN: “I didn’t feel the soccer team should train when the basketball team couldn’t play, just because they stood up for what they believed in.” “I peacefully objected to the practice, but I never asked anyone else to leave the training with me. I have stood before [the team prayer] They talked and he made them aware of what was going on. I know we all have one goal. ”
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