Tennessee Republicans are up in arms over a state college basketball team’s decision to kneel last week during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” prompting legislators to warn the public university system not to allow student athletes to do so again.
A firestorm of controversy has surrounded the action by players on the men’s East Tennessee State University basketball team, who during a Feb. 16 game at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga dropped to one knee on the court as the national anthem played.
Coach Jason Shay and ETSU president Brian Noland have said the team did not intend to disrespect that nation’s flag or military, but are seeking to prompt discussions about racial inequality.
After voicing their outrage in legislative meetings, local television news segments and social media posts over the players’ act of peaceful protest, Senate Republicans on Monday sent a letter to all presidents and chancellors of public Tennessee colleges and universities.
“To address this issue, we encourage each of you to adopt policies within your respective athletic departments to prohibit any such actions moving forward,” reads the letter, signed by all 27 members of the Senate Republican Caucus, including Lt. Gov. Randy McNally.
The Republican senators stated the national anthem represents “freedoms we enjoy as Americans” and “the ultimate sacrifice paid by many in order for us to enjoy those freedoms,” but went on to say the act of kneeling during the anthem is seen by some as “offensive and disrespectful to the very thing our National Anthem represents.”
“When they don the jersey of a Tennessee university, they step out of their personal roles and into the role of an ambassador for our state,” the senators wrote to the college and university leaders. “We expect all those who walk onto the field of play representing our universities to also walk onto the field of play to show respect for our National Anthem.”
Lawmakers question free speech rights of student athletes
Similar discourse took place during a joint House and Senate government operations committee meeting on Monday, when legislators heard from a member of the University of Tennessee’s general counsel team.
“The First Amendment is sacrosanct,” said Sen. Janice Bowling who does not believe university athletes should be allowed to kneel during the anthem. “I would never resist anything that’s going to allow them to exercise their First Amendment on their own time, absolutely.
“They’re representing the school and the school represents Tennessee and Tennessee shows preference to our time-honored people and institutions who went before us. We respect our heritage and our history.”
Sen. Rusty Crowe questioned whether freedom of speech extends to athletes in uniform, while Sen. Mark Pody said he was concerned that student athletes would engage in an act of protest while “they’re taking state money, they’re in our state schools, in our state uniforms.”
The university system’s deputy general counsel told legislators they were looking into concerns expressed about the players’ right to protest, but noted the student codes of conduct protect First Amendment rights.
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Vincent Dixie of Nashville urged the public universities to “proceed cautiously” on addressing the athletes’ form of protest.
“If we’re going to really try to not be divisive, what can we do to make people not want to kneel?” Dixie asked the committee. “What can we do to take that out of the equation? What is causing them to kneel in a peaceful protest?”
He noted that some of his colleagues have taken issue with any way young people have protested racial inequality.
“So we can’t protest peacefully?” Dixie asked. “We don’t protest violently. But you want to just hammer us down, or the students down, on every turn.”
Other elected Republicans from East Tennessee have weighed in on social media.
“If they are practicing their 1st amendment right and just kneeling in protest, why don’t they kneel at halftime or the end of the game?” tweeted Rep. Scott Campbell. “Why DURING OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM?”
Campbell, a newly elected member of the legislature, then took issue with Shay’s coaching salary at the university.
If they are practicing their 1st amendment right and just kneeling in protest, why don’t they kneel at halftime or the end of the game? Why DURING OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM? @jshay5 1/2 @news5wcyb @WJHL11
— Scotty Campbell (@ScottyIsOn) February 18, 2021
“If it isn’t out of disrespect and they cared about how many of their fans feel they wouldn’t do it during that song,” Campbell wrote. “$250k annual salary and can’t see fit to have players respect our anthem as Americans? Disappointing!”
History of funding threats
While lawmakers haven’t yet publicly suggested cutting funding from universities with athletic teams protesting during the anthem, the Tennessee General Assembly has a history of threatening to and successfully cutting funding from public university functions that Republicans have found offensive, including the University of Tennessee’s Diversity and Inclusion office and UT’s “Sex Week” programming for students.
U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger, a Republican who was also just elected this fall, tweeted she was “disappointed” in the ETSU team and the decision was “disrespectful” to veterans.
Speaking to ETSU trustees on Friday, Noland acknowledged the offense felt by many in his community, while defending the intentions of the athletes and calling for common ground to be found.
“I know that the actions of the past days have created tension, strife, and emotion within our community,” Noland said. “I also know that we have had a lot of purposeful and intentional conversations regarding social justice, equity, and structural disparities within our region. Those conversations are healthy and healing and I know that they are going to plant seeds that can allow roots to grow for change.”
On Tuesday afternoon, ETSU spokesperson Joe Smith said the university had received the letter from legislators.
“We recognize the importance of this issue and will undertake a review of our existing athletic policies,” Smith said.
Lady Vols also take a knee this year
On Jan. 7, a day after the U.S. Capitol insurrection in Washington, all but one member of the Tennessee women’s basketball team knelt during the national anthem, which traditionally had been played just before the game began.
The Lady Vols drew criticism on social media during the game, from fans and others outside the program, though state legislators have not brought up the UT women during discussions about kneeling in protest.
“We thought that with everything going on, especially here recently with Washington and everything, that’s what we saw fit to do,” senior forward Rennia Davis said after the game. “The people on the team who saw fit to support that, they did and the ones that who didn’t, they supported us in a different way.”
The Lady Vols have remained in the locker room for the national anthem in each game since then. The national anthem is now played much earlier, a policy UT adopted from its game at LSU on Jan. 10.
*story by USA Today
