This article was originally published in The Examiner on Sept. 22, 2016.
By Eleanor Skelton
Staff Writer
Earlier this month, the Beaumont Bulls youth football team kneeled in
protest during the national anthem, following the lead of NFL player Colin
Kaepernick.
The 11- and 12-year-old boys first kneeled during a game on Sept. 10, prompting death threats on KFDM’s Facebook page and other social media sites.
Comments including “Kill them all” and “Coaches need to be lynched and
fired” were posted along with various slurs, according to screenshots. The
original comments were deleted from KFDM’s page.
“The national stories haven’t gotten as much hate, but the local [response] was horrible,” said April Parkerson, mother of Jaelun Parkerson, a player who started the protest.
Sept. 15, the team’s executive board held a meeting to discuss safety concerns. According to the board’s statement, “the meeting got out of hand and nothing was resolved.” The board stated that the varsity team will be allowed to keep kneeling during the anthem.
Parkerson said that the players had obtained board approval to kneel but were told Sept. 15 that her son would be benched for pro-testing and the senior season canceled if the protests continued.
The board’s statement said, “The allegations made by April Parkerson against the Bay Area Football League is false due to the fact Bay Area Football League did not have a
part in the decisions made by the board. We support the youths’ First Amendment
right.”
The Houston-based Bay Area Football League (BAFL) also released a statement Sept. 16 that said they were notified of the protest before it occurred and “fully supported the players request to express themselves in the manner they felt justified.”
Fourteen out of 19 players continued kneeling during the Sept. 18 game.
This quote appeared in an earlier version of this story, but was removed by the editorial staff before this article was printed:
“Exercising freedom of speech shouldn’t be threatened with death, especially [not] young people,” Houston Black Lives Matter organizer Ashton P. Woods said. “We are exercising anger against oppression that has been in power for over 400 years.”
“I support anyone in Beaumont who has decided to join in,” he said. “A lot of kids can’t show up to protests like the ones we have on the street where we are taking over. Any form of protest that stands against oppression of any type is a good thing because you are making those who are comfortable in the system uncomfortable. And you have been ignoring our plight and our need and it is time for you to pay attention.”
Eleanor Skelton 