WASHINGTON 鈥� Cheerleaders at Howard University in D.C. are the latest athletes to join a countrywide protest during a sporting event’s national anthem.
The squad took a knee at聽RFK Stadium on Saturday as Howard took on Hampton University for AT&T Nation’s Football Classic. Their picture went viral on Twitter.
. taking a knee during the national anthem at Nation’s Football Classic:
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Howard football players raised their fists, but did not kneel during the anthem, .
The cheerleaders at the historically black university join a聽national protest sparked by San Francisco 49ers player Colin Kaepernick, which has trickled from the professional level to the high school level. Most of a Maryland high school football team at a game in Montgomery County.
Kaepernick wanted to shed light on racial injustice in the country, , “The message is that we have a lot of issues in this country that we need to deal with. We have a lot of people that are oppressed. We have a lot of people that aren鈥檛 treated equally, that aren鈥檛 given equal opportunities. Police brutality is a huge thing that needs to be addressed. There are a lot of issues that need to be talked about.鈥�
Soccer player Megan Rapinoe has also joined in solidarity with Kaepernick and has even knelt during the anthem at .
