Members of a North Carolina Cub Scout pack were asked to lead the Pledge of Allegiance during a city council meeting in Durham, North Carolina. But one scout decided to take a knee during the recitation as the rest of his fellow scouts stood.
Liam Holmes, 10, is the son of a Civil Rights attorney, activist and a North Carolina Central University professor, WTVD reported.
While he was kneeling, the scout kept his hand over his heart while the rest of the pack recited the pledge, the Raleigh News & Observer reported.
"What I did was took a knee against racial discrimination, which is basically when people are mean to other people of different colors," Liam told WNCN.
His family are also Quakers and don’t believe in taking oaths due to religious beliefs.
"So we've talked about that sort of thing before," Liam's father Scott Holmes told WTVD. "We never really talked much about, kind of, the racial inequality part of taking a knee beyond something religious. So we talked about it as we waited for the city council to gather."
Scott Holmes said he didn’t pressure his son into making the non-verbal statement, telling the child to do what he felt comfortable doing.
"Because I know how it can feel weird, awkward to do something different than other folks," Scott Holmes told the television station.
The city’s mayor took note of Liam’s decision.
“When I saw one of the boys take a knee, I was surprised but also was very respectful and appreciative of him expressing his conscience,” Mayor Steve Schewel said.
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