Students Kneel During BTW Football Game Anthem

<p>Some Students at a Tulsa High school kneeled during the national anthem at a football game Friday.</p>

Friday, September 29th 2017, 9:59 pm



Some Students at a Tulsa High school knelt down during the national anthem at a football game Friday.

It was homecoming for Booker T, playing Sapulpa, but one of the moments students were waiting for came just before the game started.

At Booker T. the excitement has been building all week for the homecoming game.
 
The band was ready and the players were too, but it was the cheerleaders who had something ready for the pre-game.
    
A BTW student had encouraged her friends to take a knee during the national anthem.

“We are going to make a statement and the people that do are going to be proud of it.” Said BTW junior Jillian Owens.

Owens didn't tell students what they should do, just that they should do whatever was right for them.

“Some of us are going to hold hands whether it is standing or kneeling we just want to message of unity even if we don't have the same beliefs as another person we have a certain amount of respect for what they go through and the hardships that they face.” She said. 

During the anthem, most, maybe all of the parents stood and saluted.

Some of the students, especially around the cheerleaders, either sat or knelt down and locked arms.

The protest has different meanings to different people but is focused on the many forms of racial injustice.

1960 Booker T alum Harold Gordon was here when schools were still segregated.

“What exists now have been existing way before even I came along.” He said. 

The protest was only as long as the anthem and was as racially diverse as the school itself. 
When it was over, students and fans went back to cheering the Hornets.

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