34 Public Schools in Louisiana Now Require Student Athletes to Stand for National Anthem

‘Failure to Comply Will Result in Removal From the Team’ Principal Threatens

After President Trump’s week-long attack on NFL players silently protesting the killing of Black people by police and racial oppression, one Louisiana school district is mandating all student athletes stand for the National Anthem or face being kicked off their team. And that’s unconstitutional.

In an open letter, Bossier Schools Superintendent Scott Smith, who oversees the district of 34 public school schools, demonstrates his gross misunderstanding of the reason NFL players like Colin Kaepernick and others from other sports have chosen to “take a knee” in respectful protest.

“Freedom is not free,” Smith begins. “Each day the men and women at Barksdale Air Force Base and in other branches of the military in Bossier Parish and throughout the nation don a uniform and put their lives at risk as they proudly serve and protect us with honor. The least Bossier Schools can do is expect our student athletes to stand in solidarity when the National Anthem is played at sporting events in honor of those sacrifices.”

Like many conservatives and President Trump have, Smith is conflating the armed forces with local police departments. America’s armed forces are not shooting often unarmed Black people on the streets of the nation. In fact, strong leaders in the U.S. armed forces are doing heroic work to counter racism and racial oppression.

WATCH: Air Force General Tells Racists to ‘Get Out!’

Smith goes on to say that “we believe when a student chooses to join and participate on a team, the players and coaches should stand when our National Anthem is played in a show of respect. This extends to those that elect to join a club or student organization, which requires a faculty sponsor. It is a choice for students to participate in extracurricular activities, not a right, and we at Bossier Schools feel strongly that our teams and organizations should stand in unity to honor our nation’s military and veterans.”

In other words, giving up their First Amendment rights is the price students must pay to participate in taxpayer-funded activities, according to Superintendent Smith. 

Columnist Shaun King of The Intercept posted a letter written by a principal in Smith’s district. It’s even harsher than Smith’s letter.

Principal Wayne Bates says students are required to stand “in a respectful manner,” and repeated “failure to comply will result in removal from the team.” 

As many of those students likely will tell him, that’s simply unconstitutional, and he should know better.

The ACLU certainly does.

“The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana put Louisiana schools on notice today, warning them that forcing students to stand during the National Anthem or punishing students who ‘take a knee’ in protest of racial injustice and police brutality would violate students’ First Amendment rights,” the ACLU writes.

“Bossier Parish,” ACLU of Louisiana executive director Marjorie Esman adds, “is threatening to punish students for peacefully protesting racial injustice and taking a principled position for freedom and equality. This is antithetical to our values as Americans and a threat to students’ constitutional rights.”

“Nearly 75 years ago, the Supreme Court rightly held that state schools have no business forcing students to stand for patriotic rituals,” she noted.

In a famous 1969 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court in fact did rule that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

It’s time Superintendent Smith and Principal Bates (along with President Trump, and far too many conservatives) re-learn that lesson.

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