I’ve been a big fan of women’s college volleyball for years. Intricate strategy, great athleticism, and I love the team spirit that women so often bring to the table.
Last weekend was our first home game since the election, and as we rose for the national anthem, the thought hit me: Every athlete on the floor is a woman, and they all have just been told that when Thomas Jefferson wrote “all men are created equal,” he was speaking literally. Women need not apply. So shouldn’t all of these women be summoning their inner Colin Kaepernick and taking a knee? (And two players on the opposing team did — one white and one black — although I don’t know if it was a response to the election or something else entirely.)
The national anthem at our school is preceded by an announcement that the university supports its coaches and athletes who use their platforms to promote social justice, diversity, and inclusion. (We’re very PC at the Univ. of Illinois, at least until big donors are offended and cash-flow is threatened.) I think it’s time we used that permission.
I hear there are plans afoot to organize another women’s march in January, this time scheduled (wisely) for just before the inauguration, when they won’t be shot, instead of just after, when they might be. And I have no objection, but I’ve participated in so many marches that did not lead to the result I wanted that I wonder why I still go. (The only reason is because I can’t do nothing.)
A march happens in a day and then it’s over, easily forgotten and ignored. But if every WNBA player, every member of the US Women’s Soccer team, every female athlete across the board — and the fans in the stands, male and female, who support them — took a knee at every game, that is a statement that can be repeated, that can be sustained, and that can grow until specific and tangible actions are taken to redress their concerns.
So I submit this diary merely to test if this is an idea that might have any legs at all. No worries. I’m very accustomed to being disappointed in matters like this, but what the hell — I’ll sleep when I’m dead.
But regardless of the response, when I go to my next volleyball game, I’m taking a knee.