The United States Soccer, in a meeting on Saturday, scrapped a
controversial policy that disallowed players from kneeling during the
country’s national anthem. A vote in the federation found 71% of voters backing
the decision to scrap the rule, while 29% were against it. In spite of the board of directors repealing the policy in 2020, a confirmation from the entire
body of members was deemed necessary to complete the move, according to AFP.

The issue, over the last few years, has found significant
grounding among sportspersons in the US.

Also read: US Soccer votes to allow taking-a-knee during national anthem

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, on August
26, 2016, sat in the bench during a pre-season game of the National Football
League (NFL), protesting against police brutality and racism against the Black
population at large in the United States.

Kaepernick’s stance, however, changed soon. In another game
a few days later on September 1, 2016, the player switched from sitting on the
bench to kneeling down during the national anthem.

The move, understandably, was able to arrest the attention of
US media, and eventually the population at large.

Various reactions to Kaepernick’s take came flying through
social media and public discourse at the time. Former US president Barack Obama
defended the player’s constitutional right in doing so, while many of the fans opined
on social media that it was disrespectful.

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Interestingly, 2016 is not the first time that kneeling was used as a symbol of resistance. A picture of Martin Luther King going
down on a knee during a prayer service at a civil rights march in 1965 has been
widely shared in recent years.

A characteristic response came from the former US president Donald
Trump, who, at the time, criticised the move strongly, adding that Kaepernick
and anyone who joins him should be fired by their teams.

US soccer star Megan Rapinoe was the next to join the stance
symbolising resistance against racism, as on September 4, 2016, prior to a
match between Chicago Red Stars and Seattle Reign FC, the US Women’s National
Team member took a knee during the national anthem.

“Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the
flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. It was something small that
I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully
spark some meaningful conversation around it”, Rapinoe was quoted by NBC Sports
as saying in an interview.

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The new, unique form of solidarity found resounding support
in the Black Lives Matter protests that erupted in the nation after the death
of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020. Huge rallies of
protestors taking the knee in rows became regular images of the protest
to come out at the time.