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U.S. Soccer issues statement of disapproval after Rapinoe’s latest anthem protest

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Megan Rapinoe’s ongoing protest of the national anthem extended to Thursday night’s U.S. Women’s National Team match, prompting a statement from U.S. Soccer.

The midfielder knelt once again during the national anthem prior to the USWNT’s lopsided win over Thailand. The gesture is one that Rapinoe has done for several weeks in an effort to protest social inequalities following inspiration from NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. While Rapinoe’s actions have already generated plenty of controversy, the midfielder knelt once again Thursday, for the first time with the national team.

Rapinoe’s decision prompted U.S. Soccer to release a statement that made it clear it didn’t approve of Rapinoe protesting the national anthem while on national team duty.

“Representing your country is a privilege and honor for any player or coach that is associated with U.S. Soccer’s National Teams. Therefore, our national anthem has particular significance for U.S. Soccer,” the statement read. “In front of national and often global audiences, the playing of our national anthem is an opportunity for our Men’s and Women’s National Team players and coaches to reflect upon the liberties and freedom we all appreciate in this country.

“As part of the privilege to represent your country, we have an expectation that our players and coaches will stand and honor our flag while the national anthem is played.”

Rapinoe’s protest began on Sept. 4 as she first knelt prior to an NWSL match. Three days later, the Washington Spirit played the anthem before Rapinoe and other players could take the field in a effort to prevent Rapinoe’s protest.  In her most recent club match, Rapinoe stood and locked arms with teammates to mark the anniversary of Sept. 11.

The USWNT returns to action on Sunday for a friendly against the Netherlands.

Comments

  1. wow lots of comments. if she hadn’t done this you all would have been here talking about O’Reilly’s send off game? BS. I’d say Rapinoe’s tactic is working whether you agree with it or not

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  2. If she tried any of that stuff at the World Cup, she would have received a lifetime ban just like Tommie Smith and John Carlos did at the Mexico City Olympics.

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  3. She wants to protest something let her go do elsewhere let her do it elsewhere. She is a distraction. It is time to move on from her. They fired Hope Solo for speaking her mind impolitely to an opposing coach. USA Soccer could have said we do not approve.

    If they do not fire this protester who insults the flag and America we will know they are nothing more than PC fakes!.

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  4. What a hypocrite. If you really want to protest then refuse the call up and explain your position.
    However she wants to have her cake and eat it to. Yea I like want to protest the anthem and flag but totally am for wearing the colors of said flag and representing said country. You are selected to represent you country. If you dont want to do that…then dont!

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  5. Protesting the US, while representing the US. Protesting the country that guarantees her right to do so. Protesting the country that allows her to be relevant enough for her protest to get attention. Lucky her. She gets to live in a country that gives her everything, while guaranteeing her the right to protest it, all the while getting her club and country pay from that same country. Only in America.

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  6. I applaud Rapinoe. She has the courage the fight the oppression of minorities in this country. Those that say she’s disrespecting anyone is missing the point. She is bringing attention to an issue that deserves discourse in our society. The statistics are clear that blacks are disproportionately targeted by police while committing no more crimes than whites. They also receive harsher punishments than whites for the same crimes in similar circumstance. The issue of improper law enforcement towards a particular segment of our society is important enough to take the steps that she has. Her kneeling is an act of patriotism.

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    • Except that she didn’t say any of those things. She doesn’t really know what she is protesting for, but don’t tell her that because she might call you homophobic.

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      • But of course she did say those things, and has furthermore multiple times said that she is doing this as a nod to CK, who has said those things. You must not be reading up much on what she has said…

      • RB, show me where she said Blacks receive harsher punishments than whites for the same crimes in similar circumstance. You are such a hypocrite time and time again. Are you some sort of comedian?

      • OK, sure, LMGTFY:

        “It was very intentional,” Rapinoe told American Soccer Now after the game. “It was a little nod to Kaepernick and everything that he’s standing for right now. I think it’s actually pretty disgusting the way he was treated and the way that a lot of the media has covered it and made it about something that it absolutely isn’t. We need to have a more thoughtful, two-sided conversation about racial issues in this country.

        “Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it. It’s important to have white people stand in support of people of color on this. We don’t need to be the leading voice, of course, but standing in support of them is something that’s really powerful.”

        That was as quoted in The Guardian (link below, if the filters here allow it to go through), but If you’d like to look into more, I’m sure Google will be of help.

        https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/sep/04/megan-rapinoe-anthem-protest-colin-kaepernick

      • Again, RB, show me where she said Blacks receive harsher punishments than whites for the same crimes in similar circumstance. You are such a hypocrite time and time again. Are you some sort of comedian..or just can’t stand to be WRONG. You’re such a joke.

      • here Alex, check this out. did you hear about the Boston Police Lab employee Annie Dookhan falsifying thousands of lab results, for blacks, and sending them to jail? https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/04/12/annie-dookhan-key-figure-state-lab-scandal-released-from-prison/lp7q98UmWKucv4F7O3R4DI/story.html
        ““Nearly five years after egregious misconduct became known to managers at the Hinton Lab, Annie Dookhan’s victims are only now on the cusp of having a meaningful opportunity to challenge their convictions in court,”

        look, I support law enforcement. I have a cousin who is a cop, two others who are on disability who were cops and injured on the job. I’m with them.

        But that doesn’t make the above reality go away or excuse it. seems to me it’s a perfect example of why many in our society are pissed off and distrusting of law enforcement and the courts

      • So to you it qualifies as hypocritical to defend someone’s freedom of speech, in any situation where you don’t personally think what they’re doing is very clear (or of course agree with them)?

        You must see a number of hypocrites on this page, then, as others have also said they respect or would defend her right to protest, even if they don’t necessarily agree with her in terms of content or form of that protest.

        I think you are rather confused on the idea of this most basic freedom of ours in this country. Well or on the idea of hypocrisy, perhaps…

      • No it’s hypocritical that you said Rapione said all the things that krimsonyx said after you said she wasn’t clear. This makes you a hypocrite by the very definition of one. You’re arguments are very sad, indeed.

      • “you said Rapione said all the things that krimsonyx said”

        No, as you can see up the page, you said “she didn’t say any of those things” (your words, verbatim), and added that she didn’t know why she was protesting. I pointed out that you were incorrect, and that she did explicitly address such things and why she was protesting, in fact. Then when you said I needed to show you proof of that, I did, with a substantial quote and a link to back it up. But you seem now to be in some sort of just knee-jerk denial mode, and you continue to erroneously label a hypocrite because I defend others’ right to say or do something even when that something may not seem so clearly detailed or something I agree with. You finish off by failing to respond to that issue with your view, but by piling on by repeatedly labeling my view “sad”. So as happened before, you’ve now left off engaging in rational dialogue on the matter in question, and so there’s no longer a point in any continued back and forth.

        Take it easy.

      • “But of course she did say those things.”

        krimsonyx said that Blacks receive harsher punishments than whites for the same crimes in similar circumstance.

        I keep asking you to provide with any quote that says exactly this because right after you said “But of course she did say those things.” You are simply WRONG.

    • yea..its also true that African Amercians disproportionately commit violent crimes and kill other African American at an astronomical rate (FBI stats). For example, there have been nearly 3,000 African Americans shot by their own race in Chicago alone and less than 10 persons TOTLA shot by police during the same time frame. So does it make sense for police to stop other races in those areas when they dont predominately live there? Do you think Rapinoe knows anything about this?

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    • There’s nothing courageous about her self-centered “protest”, of which, she accuses others of being homophobic within a profanity laced tirade for exercising their own “freedom” of expression/speech.

      If you, and the rest of the SJW actually looked at the stats readily available by the FBI and did some self-reflection you’d see this supposed “issue” is an anomaly. Nothing more. The true outrage should be towards the justice system, not the individuals out there actually serving and protecting.

      When the black culture actually takes responsibility for it’s actions, takes care of it’s own out of control violence in it’s own communities, and stops committing 52% of the crime despite making up only 13% of the population – then perhaps you’d see less deaths (justified or otherwise) when interacting…aka resisting arrest…and these comfortable/bored Caucasians looking for a cause to protest can actually utilize their time to helping the cause instead of listening to watch Rachel Maddow tells them.

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  7. To believe that patriotism will not flourish if patriotic ceremonies are voluntary and spontaneous, instead of a compulsory routine, is to make an unflattering estimate of the appeal of our institutions to free minds. We can have intellectual individualism and the rich cultural diversities that we owe to exceptional minds only at the price of occasional eccentricity and abnormal attitudes. When they are so harmless to others or to the State as those we deal with here, the price is not too great. But freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order.
    —Justice Robert Jackson, West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette , 1943

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  8. If Kapernicker and this Rapinoe want to stand-up for my people, maybe they should focus on the black children that are in broken homes, who only know how to survive because all they see are drug dealers as local heroes. A few police officers killing a few innocent black men is NOT as bad as the thousands of deaths that have been occurring in Chicago due to gang violence. What about the lobbying to extend prison sentences for non-violent offenders? How about legalizing all drugs and prostitution to make it a safer industry. Drug war is racist war that was lost a long time ago.

    Their message does not address any meaningful issues that are facing the black community. Plus, why is she representing the USA if she is protesting against it? Kapernicker said that he was protesting against the entire country for his cause and Rapinoe is “giving a nod” to him..whatever that is supposed to mean.

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    • Hey, Alex. 🙂

      Well on the first point, you may well be right, but it’s still their choice to take the action they want to take or choose to take or think will be effective.

      The second point I think has been covered above: there’s no incompatibility between protesting or speaking out against something happening in one’s country and representing or loving one’s country. Indeed, doing so can be seen as precisely the proper action to take if in fact you love your country and want to make it better. So here again it seems that the issue is one of how you or I or somebody else personally and subjectively views the situation, not of what it is objectively (or anything that might then be argued for in terms of change based on objective grounds).

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      • This is why I hate her protest.. the meaning doesn’t make sense. I mean if you’re going to disrespect a lot of people with how you are protesting, at least protest for something that has the possibility for a huge positive for millions of people. She seems like a child to me..not knowing anything about the what our community is dealing with, calling people homophobic, etc. She’s an embarrassment.

      • “if you’re going to disrespect a lot of people with how you are protesting”

        But once again, she’s not. I know you and some others feel that she is, and that’s your right if you choose to feel that way, but it doesn’t follow in any objective way from her actions, and many others are of the equally valid opinion that she is not being disrespectful to anyone.

        So this is an example of what I mentioned above, of people charging ahead on the unanalyzed assumption that her actions are in some objective way disrespectful — that that is obvious or a given — and proceeding from there to critique or to suggest consequences or the like, without ever recognizing that their operating all from the basis of just a subjective personal opinion that many there don’t share and that cannot justify those critiques or suggested consequences.

      • It would be nice if you cared about her protests, that you showed that you cared about the issues of marginalized Black and Hispanic people face instead of focusing all your efforts on defending her.

      • “It would be nice if you cared about her protests, that you showed that you cared about the issues of marginalized Black and Hispanic people face instead of focusing all your efforts on defending her.”

        Well I have no idea where this came from. Unfortunately for you, you are laughably far off the mark with it. (You would probably even laugh if you knew.)

        My, the things people assume…

        I care about the named minority groups, and other such groups, and women (not a minority but with some obviously similar concerns), and I care about Rapinoe’s protests, and the fair treatment of others, including her, as she/they act on their rights of freedom of expression.

      • “You just keep proving my point about how stupid her protest is. Keep it going.”

        OK, if that’s the way you want to see it. That of course is only another personal, subjective opinion that is of no consequence in any valid, objective judgment of her behavior. Our right to free speech — yours, mine, hers, every other American citizen’s — isn’t qualified by some vague disclaimer that it applies only where said speech seems in the opinions of some unknown list of others to be particularly intelligent. And again, that’s a very good thing, for all of us.

    • Yeah, the protest seems kind hollow to me because there’s no real policy or solutions behind it. It seems more just to be based on feelings. Say I will stand when there’s are certain reforms passed. Certainly the drug war is a big problem, sorry but we also have a gun problem ect. However if its just a general feeling of injustice, then I’m not sure what can even be done.

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      • I grantee you that crime will go down if drugs were legal. What do you think is fueling this violence??? Also, why are we locking-up people for non-violent crimes and, in turn, the recidivism rate is about 75% because now all employers know they were locked up due to the ounce of marijuana in their car.

  9. This is step 1 people. USSOCCER has taken a position and made it public. If she does it again, she is going to get a Solo and be suspended. She has been warned… go protest somewhere else. Nobody cares what you think or what your rights are. People are here to watch soccer, not a sideshow that in the end won’t make one bit of difference. This will stop if she does get suspended and the NFL should take note on how to end it

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    • I think they probably were hoping she’d stand and called her up with their fingers crossed. I bet she even was talked to by somebody ahead of time and was pretty clearly aware that US Soccer disapproved of it. If they want to back up their statement then next time around she shouldn’t get the call up. That would be the next step.

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      • Definitely, they need to suspend. Talk is cheap. Let me know where you stand.
        She says Black Lives Matter, obviously some can’t risk showing that they agree with her, because they aren’t rated the highest female in FIFA17, but many do, obviously.

        Don’t be the NFL, walking the dumb line of we understand her, but we don’t want to tick off the people that don’t want the Colin K message out. US Soccer? Where do you stand? Many of us want to know.

    • It will not stop if she gets suspended, but I agree the NFL should take note, start suspending if they think Colin K’s message of Black Lives Matter shouldn’t get out.

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  10. The national team aspect makes this messy, especially since salary and contracts are involved. However, if she had stood, wouldn’t the internet be full of see I told you so, she didn’t really have any conviction. Kind of odd to see the picture of her kneeling in protest, but with the US crest on her warm up which is a representation of the flag.

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  11. I think Rapinoe is precisely “reflecting upon the liberties and freedom we all appreciate in this country,” by pointing out that not everyone in this country actually has the same level of liberty and freedom. Her protest is pro-America, in the sense that she wants America to be more perfect. She’s not advocating Soviet communism or some other form of government. Aren’t we big enough as a country that we can express our hopes for our country slightly differently than our neighbors? Kneeling is a sign of respect and devotion in many religions after all.

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  12. Exact opposite of what we should expect from US Soccer and what I expect from US Soccer for sure. In a world where bananas are thrown on the field with noise to match at black players, US soccer has been the better choice. It probably still is, but it is less so.

    The correct choice is unity around making a black life experience fair. There will never be unity on that of course, so a choice has to be made. US soccer made the choice of changing the subject, ignoring the real task as hand.

    In stating:

    “opportunity for our Men’s and Women’s National Team players and coaches to reflect upon the liberties and freedom we all appreciate in this country”

    I don’t know what US Soccer could possibly be thinking. The reason for the protest is that the exact opposite of that is happening in many of our opinions. I guess I respect their desire to not go in 100% weak by changing the subject like most do, but instead they succeeded by being 100% wrong, rather than “just” changing the subject.

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  13. so she should “reflect on the liberties and freedom we have”, and she better do it the way she’s told?

    i’m not going to address the pros and cons of the actual protest, and i think rapinoe did herself no favors with her whining about the spirit’s choice to not give her a platform, but us soccer just sounds dumb here. i mean, they can’t have been surprised by this. if they don’t like it, they didn’t have to call her up; pretty sure we could’ve handled thailand without her.

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    • You have to remember though, this isn’t the same as the Men’s side. Her NWSL salary is also being paid by US Soccer. Where on Klinsmann can just ice, out a player and say there’s guys ahead of him, I’m not sure its the same for the Women.

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    • Agree with Nate’s last statement, cut her then. Issuing a statement is weak. Let people know where you stand. Rapinoe says black lives matter. I agree. Where does US Soccer stand? They sort of disagree, but not enough to do anything about it?

      Take a stand, people that buy tickets deserve to know. Easy to write we are inclusive of all races into a mission statement, harder to execute….in real life….racists all around….making up reasons to whine about people that actually want it to be come reality.

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    • Saying US Soccer doesn’t really care about black lives matter because they would prefer a player stand during the anthem DURING A US SOCCER MATCH is insane.

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  14. She should have the freedom to do this. And the USSF should also have the freedom to say, good luck in the NWSL. Don’t represent the USA and do this please. You’re embarrassing us.

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  15. Herein lies the problem. Rapinoe is not only a soccer player, she is a US citizens and the US constitution defends those who challenge the status quo through the protection of free speech. The there is the USSF, which is her employer as part of the USWNT salary paid to players on that team.

    In my opinion and only my opinion, the USSF has made a mistake in getting involved with players expressions. Punishing Hope Solo for an emotional outburst right after an excruciating and heartbreaking loss when emotions ran high is the primary example of the USSF problem. They also have a problem with the women athletes in pay equality that has landed it in US District Court. In short, the USSF is exaggerating the problem by getting involved by disciplining their employees for expressing their dissatisfaction with the societal status quo, a right which is protected the very bedrock of our society.

    Most do not remember the Black Power salute made in the ’68 Olympics by John Carlos and Tommie Smith. I do, and in the time before the instantaneous reporting of social media we have today, the symbol of the two American Black athletes, fist raised, on the podium in the biggest sports event in the world, rocked the world, and made headlines a lot bigger than what Rapinoe ever did.It was a salute against injustice, against the society that jailed Mohammed Ali for refusal to serve in the Military, for equal rights and for a society that was only just coming to grips with Equal Rights for All.

    I marvel at the conviction of our US athletes and it makes me proud that not only do they challenge themselves to be an elite caliber athlete, to compete against the best, but also have the moral conviction to represent themselves with a voicing of outrage through a simple act of raising a clenched fist, voicing an outrage, or the simple act of touching a knee to the ground.

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    • She stood alone and if they suspend her next time… she will really be alone… maybe she can hang with Hope? I think what Rapinoe is doing is worse than what Hope did. You lose your rights when you’re on the job people. Companies can fire you for nothing if they want. So can USSOCCER…. unless your name is Ellis

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  16. Disrespecting the symbol of an entire country disrespects everything about the country. It’s a lame generalization….but I suppose some of them are good people.

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    • A key problem in this discussion is precisely this unanalyzed claim that Rapinoe is disrespecting anything. That is only a matter of personal opinion, yet it is repeatedly presented as if it were objective fact, and folks quickly move on to what should or shouldn’t happen as a consequence. But we don’t rightly demand that someone face consequences because of some people’s mere opinion of their actions.

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      • A key problem in this discussion is that people, such as yourself, spend all your time defending her right to protest without even talking about the real issues that are effecting minorities. The funny thing is that is what she is protesting for – to push this discussion into our society.

      • Well I can choose to defend her right to protest regardless of what she is protesting… I mean that’s clear, right? And it’s important. As several here have said, they respect her right to protest regardless of what they think on the issues she’s protesting about, or even if they disagree with her on those issues…

        And furthermore, I or you or she or anyone else can focus on whichever aspects of the situation we each find to be the most salient or crucial. I don’t personally think either she or CK have made anything very clear about what that is to them — what precisely they want to change or have happen or whatever — but I feel quite clearly that I want them and all of us to be able to carry out whatever such peaceful expressions of protest we each might feel are most appropriate, that’s for damned sure. So that’s mostly what I’ve been commenting on.

      • Let me edit that a little:

        You’re defending the right to protest a protest that you call not “clear.” Good for you. Have at it, Hoss.

      • Again, good for you, but I think I can find a few more protests that are more worthwhile to defend the the right to protest than this woman-child that has no “clear” message at all.

      • OK. Good for you. You’re free to choose what types of protests that would, in your opinion, be good or effective. Exactly as Megan Rapinoe is. Because America.

  17. Without giving an opinion one way or the other on Rapinoe here, I’d like to express my disapproval of US Soccer’s disapproval.

    This just doesn’t seem smart. We have a player protesting social inequalities, and (again, not taking sides on whether or not this is the right time or place) US Soccer comes out with a statement siding with the oppressor (whether real or perceived) over the oppressed.

    Megan Rapinoe put this out there by taking a knee to begin with. But US Soccer took the bait, and now we’re talking about this instead of Heather O’Reilly.

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    • Without giving an opinion one way or the other on Rapinoe here, I’d like to express my disapproval of your disapproval of US Soccer’s disapproval.

      “US Soccer comes out with a statement siding with the oppressor” GMAFB. Who exactly is the “oppressor”? People who love our country. What a hateful position you are taking.

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      • I see what you did there. Ok.

        I don’t want to speak for Rapinoe, or any of the other public figures who have chosen to take a knee during the national anthem, but I suspect the “oppressors” could include those who have fought against legalizing gay marriage, those who have passed laws that explicitly eliminate anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people, police who have been involved of the shooting of unarmed black people, and/or those who have told Rapinoe, Kaepernick, and others to bugger off and protest at times and places where it will be less uncomfortable and disruptive.

        Hateful position? Really?

  18. For me there is a difference between playing for your professional club team and playing for the national team. Rapinoe has the right not to stand during the anthem, and US Soccer has the right to leave her home from here on. I’m just one fan, but if you won’t honor the flag of your country while being chosen to represent your country on a national team, then I don’t want you on my national team.

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  19. 2 things…

    I can’t stand how much attention this took away from Heather O’Reilly and her send away game. She should be the story, not Rapinoe. O’Reilly had a great career and it was a pleasure to watch her play. I still remember a story of her going to prom after scoring a goal for the National Team. Pretty awesome.

    Secondly, why not protest somewhere, where you aren’t on the clock? These are employees, at work, “protesting.” If I protested at work, I think my employers would pissed and may fire me.

    If you really want to protest shouldn’t you also be doing these types of things off the clock? Right? Because you really care about your cause. Right? Maybe in a charity event to help your cause. Clearly these names are big enough for charity events.

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    • I’d like to add 231 caps for O’Reilly, and we are talking about someone who didn’t stand for anthem. Where is the article celebrating a career that any girl playing the game would dream of?

      Just wrong….

      Also playing Thailand… waste of a National Team game. I’m guessing they need to play these games since these girls are salaried employees that must play in X amount of games.

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    • Well in fairness, she’s a public figure due to soccer, so of course the single biggest venue or situation in which she can draw attention to any concern is that same one: soccer. That this is the case is quite evident from the attention that has been paid to her kneeling during the anthem. So it doesn’t seem like bad logic…

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    • I agree Chris. We should be talking about O’Reilly’s send of game not Rapinoe. I bet Rapinoe didn’t give one thought to disrepecting and stealing O’Reilly’s due by furthering this controversy.

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      • If the headline of this article was the O’Reilly send off against Thailand – i would hope the comments would be about her long career and success. However, the headline and subject is about Rapinoe’s “protest”.

  20. At what point do all of these individuals stand. Such a far reaching protest will take years and years and frankly there will always be societal challenges. This is divisive behavior, unity is a much better philosophy.

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    • Have to say I’ve thought the exact same thing. It’s like the stupid “World Peace” answer in the Miss America pageants. There will always be something, so at what point will things be good enough for them to stand? I’m all for acknowledging these several incidents, and wanting justice to be served. However I do think there’s some hypocrisy, or at least irony, in playing for your nation when you’re also protesting it. There’s other ways for Kap and Pinoe to show their frustration with recent events (That I agree are pretty ridiculous at this point), however those ways probably wouldn’t get this much attention.

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      • Do you really just equate Miss America to peacefully protesting for social injustice? Wow, please be more dismissive.

      • I completely agree, and it’s perhaps what I find most annoying part about it. At least have some kind of a policy you are for. For example, I’m not going to stand until this legislation is passed. Anything really. I might disagree but at least that be something concrete. Stop just talking about how you feel, and stand behind some real policy or the protest is a bit hollow.

  21. Rapinoe shows about as much discipline and support towards her teammates and her country on the sideline as she does on the field. She’s taking up a roster spot that a thousand other young women are waiting to fill.

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      • She frequently (and is not alone in this, but leads the field, if such stats were actually kept) will take low probability shots when there is a teammate in a much better position.

      • She has looked absolutely terrible as of late. Her days on the team are numbered for probably a few reasons, but mostly because she’s bad at soccer now post knee injury

      • Rapinoe was one of more dangerous attacking players in the last two World Cups where we finished runner up and champion. Her knee injury, caused by a poor turf field for a post WC champion’s tour is the only thing that has slowed her. She came back early to try to play in the Olympics, and her absence/injury may have been one of the reasons we were defeated at the early stages.

        Rapinoe appears to be a leader on the team, and I give her credit for putting herself on the line for her beliefs.

      • Regardless of when the ACL injury occurred shes a 31 year old who is pretty clearly washed because of it. At what point will it be okay for me to say ‘told you so’? 6 months from now? A year?

    • If Kapernicker and this Rapinoe want to stand-up for my people, maybe they should focus on the black children that are in broken homes, who only know how to survive because all they see are drug dealers as local heroes. A few police officers killing a few innocent black men is NOT as bad as the thousands of deaths that have been occurring in Chicago due to gang violence. What about the lobbying to extend prison sentences for non-violent offenders? How about legalizing all drugs and prostitution to make it a safer industry. Drug war is racist war that was lost a long time ago.

      Their message does not address any meaningful issues that are facing the black community. Plus, why is she representing the USA if she is protesting against it? Kapernicker said that he was protesting against the entire country for his cause and Rapinoe is “giving a nod” to him..whatever that is supposed to mean.

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      • If one of those “few police officers” killed an innocent member of your family I doubt you would still have this ignorant stance.

      • If one of those “few police officers” killed an innocent member of your family I doubt you would still have this ignorant stance.

        Family.

        Something greatly lacking and lacking in quality leading to many of these “interactions” with police to begin with. The problem is the community and culture, not the less than %.010 of deaths of blacks.

  22. First, I respect Rapinoe’s position, her consistent actions to represent her position, and her right to do so.

    Second, USSF represents our country. If the USSF feels that her actions are not representative of the message that the USSF wants to send, then Rapinoe should not be called up to further games to represent the country. This may give her a bigger platform when she gets asked about why she wasn’t called up and to call attention to the issue.

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