Youth Football Team Gets Death Threats for Kneeling During National Anthem (Video)

‘We Plan on Kneeling Every Saturday Until the Football Season Is Done’

Eleven and twelve-year-old football players on the Texas-based Beaumont Bulls are receiving death threats following their decision to kneel for the national anthem, The Root reports. The youth football team was inspired by NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s protest of racial inequality and killing of unarmed Black people in the United States.

The threats were confirmed to ABC News by April Parkerson, the mother of eleven-year-old player Jaelun Parkerson, and corroborated by Rah Rah Barber, the team’s coach. Barber has also received multiple threats, including those calling for him to be lynched. They have each confirmed that the team’s silent protest will continue.

Parkerson cited the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philandro Castile at the hands of police officers as a “turning point” for her son, who wanted to know “what [he] could do about it.” After Colin Kaepernick began his well-publicized protest of the national anthem, of which he told the NFL he was “not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Parkerson said that her son knew how he could make his own statement.

According to Coach Barber, he was approached by several of his players with a photo of Kaepernick’s protest and a desire for the team to join it. He asked his team if they understood the reasoning behind the protest and after their confirmation went to the parents of each player for their approval. He not only received it but received the Executive Board of the Beaumont Bulls’ approval as well.

“The Beaumont Bulls organization is about uplifting and educating young boys and men of all ethnicities and cultures through sports and public service,” the Executive Board said in a released statement. “We are not anti-military. We are not anti-law enforcement. Our players made the choice to kneel and not sit during the National Anthem in a silent and peaceful manner and we supported them then and now.”

The board elaborated further, denouncing the threats. “These types of responses are not how we teach [players] to react when they don’t agree with something. We are truly disheartened by some of the responses… It is our hope and desire to cultivate young men that will be leaders in our communities [and] make a difference in this world… though their stance was not seen as a sign of progress, we believe that it was and we will continue to support them.”

While April Parkerson acknowledges an outpouring of “love and support,” her concerns lie with the fact that “there’s been a lot of hate.” People have said that “our coaches and players should be lynched, they should have burned in 9/11, there are people who are saying the ‘n-word’ … We’re not going for defiance… We want change.”

“We plan on kneeling every Saturday until the football season is done,” she said.

Coach Barber, who began coaching as a way to help kids stay off of the streets, indicated that he ignores the racism and response to the protest. He said that“it’s the kids [that] I worry about. If they ever feel threatened, I would advise their parents to reach out to the authorities.”

Kaepernick retweeted a photo of the Beaumont Bulls taking a knee:

ABC News contacted the Beaumont Police Department and the FBI to inquire if the threats were under investigation, but as of this week had yet to receive a response.

“Even though we’re kids, we can still get the information and know about the stuff that’s going on,” Parkerson’s son Jaelun said. He elaborated that it was his hope that from the team’s protest, others would learn “that everybody is the same deep down.”

“They’re more aware than people realize,” Parkerson said of her son and his teammates. 

 

Image: Screenshot via KHOU