National civil rights groups are asking the NFL to reverse its national anthem policy requiring players to stand during the playing of the national anthem before games, USA Today reported Monday.
The new anthem rule, which was implemented during spring NFL owners meetings in Atlanta, fines teams whose players do no stand during the pregame playing of the national anthem. Players who will not stand for the anthem are allowed to wait in locker rooms for the duration of the national anthem under the new rule.
“We think that the league’s policy puts them on the wrong side of history,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, according to USA Today.
In a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell this week, the groups said peaceful protests are protected in the United States and they hope to meet with the commissioner to discuss the policy in an effort to reverse it.
“This policy represses peaceful, non-disruptive protest of police violence against unarmed African Americans and other people of color,” the groups said in the statement. “It is disappointing that a league built on grit and competition lacks the constitution to stomach a call for basic equality and fairness.”
The pattern of NFL players protesting social injustice and police brutality by peacefully taking a knee, raising a fist or sitting during the national anthem began in the 2016 season with former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and has since become one of main talking points around the league.
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