Megan Rapinoe discusses U.S. Soccer's decision to rescind anthem policy

United States Women's National Team star Megan Rapinoe opened up about U.S. Soccer's decision to rescind its national anthem policy against kneeling, and while it's progress, she still feels that the federation targeted not only her for kneeling, but players of color for showing their support in the fight against racial injustice, as she told Julie Foudy on her podcast (via ESPN.com's Graham Hays):

"They were silencing me and then sort of in effect silencing, or working to silence, any other player, particularly any other Black player who would have tried to kneel. So if they're going to treat me the way that they did, what does that say to AD or Crystal or Lynn or Christen Press? What does it say to those players?"

Rapinoe first knelt during the national anthem before USWNT matches against Thailand and the Netherlands in 2016, the same year former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began to kneel to protest racial injustice and police brutality. While U.S. Soccer didn't take action at the time, Rapinoe played both games as a reserve and was booed loudly by fans of both sides for kneeling. 

Following Rapinoe's stand against racism, the federation implemented a policy in 2017 that all athletes must stand during the national anthem. U.S. Soccer then made a statement that representing the country is a "privilege" and that players are expected to stand and honor the flag. 

U.S. Soccer reversed its decision in a board meeting earlier this month as members voted in favor of repealing the anthem policy. However, the vote is believed to not have been unanimous.

While it was a move in the right direction, Rapinoe told Foudy that white people must work to dismantle systemic racism in the country:

"I think that people are really starting to connect the dots. That like 'Yes, our country was founded on chattel slavery. Yes, that system is still very pervasive in our society. Yes, white people benefit from that. And yes, it is our responsibility — not the responsibility of the oppressed people but our responsibility to work to dismantle that system."

President Trump revealed earlier this month that he won't be watching U.S. Soccer following its decision to repeal its anthem policy for the USMNT and USWNT. FIFA, world soccer's governing body, urged tolerance in response to the President's words, and they even released a statement in response to Trump.

Since George Floyd's death and the protests surrounding racial injustice, a majority of Americans (52 percent) now support the right for NFL players to take a knee during the national anthem, according to a Yahoo poll, so it seems they would feel the same toward U.S. Soccer players. In 2018, only 35 percent of people were OK with players taking a knee, Yahoo added.