U.S. Soccer will consider repealing their national anthem policy

U.S. Soccer banned kneeling during the national anthem when Megan Rapinoe protested in solidarity with Colin Kapernick. Will they now change course?

Before Megan Rapinoe was a household name, she wanted the world to know that Black Lives Matter.

In 2016, when Colin Kapernick was taking a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality, Rapinoe took a knee with him in solidarity. It started with her NWSL club, Seattle Reign (now OL Reign), but when it came time for Rapinoe to represent the red, white, and blue with the U.S. women’s national team against Thailand, she still kneeled.

The protest sparked controversy. When the Reign came to town and faced the Washington Spirit, the owner of the Spirit requested that the national anthem be played while players were still in the locker room. Even some who supported Rapinoe’s protest in the NWSL thought she crossed a line when she protested while representing the United States.

U.S. Soccer’s reaction was to ban Rapinoe from protesting. A new policy passed in 2017 dictates that: “All persons representing a Federation national team shall stand respectfully during the playing of national anthems at any event in which the Federation is represented.”

But now, according to ESPN, U.S. Soccer is considering repealing their policy that requires players to stand for the national anthem.

The board will meet on Tuesday to discuss the policy, according to ESPN’s sources.

The change comes after national protests against policy brutality have caused everyone in the United States, including sports organizations, to question whether they are doing enough to support anti-racism.

When U.S. Soccer tweeted that they were “#UnitedAgainstRacism” in response to the national protests, they received plenty of backlash on Twitter over their anthem policy and general response to Rapinoe’s protest. Repealing the policy won’t be enough to show that they are true allies, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.

U.S. Soccer has often been criticized for relying on an infrastructure that favors white players over Black and non-black people of color. The pay-to-play system that funnels youth into the U.S. Soccer teams means that families must spend tens of thousands of dollars to get their children noticed. The result is a team that claims to represent America but doesn’t really look like it.

U.S. Soccer, like many sports organizations, has a lot of work to do if it wants to successfully dismantle the racism inherent in the system. But the fact that they are actively changing policy is a good sign. Hopefully, it’s the first of many.