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During the singing of The Star Spangled Banner on Tuesday night before the exhibition game between the Sacramento Kings and Maccabi Haifa, another person joined the acts of protests being done by athletes and professional teams against racially-charged violence in the country.
It was not a Kings player or a member of their staff, it was the woman singing it.
After seeing the home team lock arms while the National Anthem was being sung to show their unity, Leah Tysee, slowly knelt down on one knee while belting out the last line of the national anthem.
The moment, which made the crowd erupt with applause, was captured and tweeted by Heather Peterson of KFBK News Radio Sacramento:
https://twitter.com/heatherp_kfbk/status/785859231073185792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
After her passionate performance, the Oakland-native took to her Facebook account and released a statement about her stance:
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“Why I took a knee while singing the Anthem at a Sacramento Kings NBA game: This act embodies the conflict many of us feel. I love and honor my country as deeply as anyone yet it is my responsibility as an American to speak up against injustice as it affects my fellow Americans. I have sung the anthem before but this time taking a knee felt like the most patriotic thing I could do. I cannot idly stand by as black people are unlawfully profiled, harassed and killed by our law enforcement over and over and without a drop of accountability. I believe that the majority of police are good and are against this too and as a nation we all need to speak up. We should all be outraged and demand justice and an end to the brutality. Let’s look around our communities for those facilitating healthy interactions between law enforcement and communities of color and support.”
She continued her message by acknowledging that there are priveleges given to people based on the color of their skin. Tysee also asked her fellow Americans to come out and exercise their right to vote next month.
“The sad reality is, as a white American I am bestowed a certain privilege in this nation that is not enjoyed by all people. Black families are having much different conversations with their children about how to interact with the police than white families. Let’s be honest. Until we can recognize that white privilege exists we cannot have a dialogue about race. Whether or not you can see if from your vantage point, there is a deep system of institutionalized racism in America, from everyday discrimination to disproportionate incarceration of people of color to people losing their lives at the hands of the police simply for being black. This is not who we claim to be as a nation. It is wrong and I won’t stand for it. #solidarity #pleasevote”
This won't be the last time an athlete or team, or maybe even someone who'll sing the national anthem in future games, will show a public demonstration of his or her belief as more people are following what San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started.
