The night of Saturday, September 23, 2017, was (and always will be) a groundbreaking evening for the MLB. In light of the league and its involvement in the protesting of the national anthem, the silence has finally been broken.
MLB Silence on National Anthem Protests Broken
Bruce Maxwell, the rookie catcher for the Oakland Athletics, made the decision last night to kneel during the playing of the anthem in response to President Donald Trump’s recent comments on the subject. Maxwell is African-American, and has reportedly been politically active for a while now.
President Trump was at an Alabama senatorial campaign when he remarked on the protesting of the anthem, more specifically in the NFL.
As stated in a report from The Washington Post, Trump stated, “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a b***h off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’”
Maxwell said, per ESPN, “The point of my kneeling is not to disrespect our military, it’s not to disrespect our Constitution, it’s not to disrespect this country. … My hand over my heart symbolizes the fact that I am and I’ll forever be an American citizen, and I’m more than grateful to be here. But my kneeling is what is getting the attention because I’m kneeling for the people that don’t have a voice.”
Maxwell comes from a military family and was born on a United States military installation in Wiesbaden, Germany. His father was stationed there with the U.S. Army while he was born.
It has been a crazy year and a half in the world of sports and politics; particularly, seeing the two merge in a way that has affected many lives, not just of the athletes, but of the people they are protesting for and against. Expect to see many more demonstrations in the weeks to come.
