A national civil rights group says it has “grave concerns” about actions taken by Kennesaw State University after five black cheerleaders knelt during the national anthem at a football game.
The Kennesaw State cheerleaders were told they’d be kept off the field in a stadium tunnel at future pregame activities after protesting racial injustice during the anthem Sept. 30. Four of the cheerleaders then knelt in the tunnel behind the stands at the school’s homecoming game Saturday.
In a Tuesday letter to the state’s board of regents, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law said that moving the cheerleaders off the field during the anthem is “an act of retaliation.”
“Denying the cheerleading squad the opportunity to be present during our national anthem is not an act of patriotism; it is an act of retaliation,” the letter states. “The public reports indicate that KSU and other public officials violated these students’ First Amendment rights by retaliating against their peaceful protest based on the students’ viewpoints.”
