Photo: Lachlan Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty
Gabe Kapleris taking a stand.
The San Francisco Giants manager, 46, told reporters during his team’s game against the Cincinnati Reds on Friday that he does not plan on participating in the United States' National Anthem on the field for the foreseeable future.
Kapler spoke further about his decision in ablog postthat same day, where he cited the 19 children and two adults who werekilled in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary schoolin Uvalde, Texas, as his reason for the change.
Questioning whether or not America is really “the land of the free and the home of the brave” in his post, Kapler noted, “We weren’t given bravery, and we aren’t free.”
Singling out instances from the mass shooting where “police on the scene put a mother in handcuffs as she begged them to go in and save her children,” and how authorities “blocked parents trying to organize to charge in to stop the shooter, including a father who learned his daughter was murdered while he argued with the cops,” Kapler criticized those in positions of power.
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“But instead,” he added, “we thoughtlessly link our moment of silence and grief with the equally thoughtless display of celebration for a country that refuses to take up the concept of controlling the sale of weapons used nearly exclusively for the mass slaughter of human beings.”
“We have our moment (over and over), and then we move on without demanding real change from the people we empower to make these changes,” Kapler said. “We stand, we bow our heads, and the people in power leave on recess, celebrating their own patriotism at every turn.”
He added: “Every time I place my hand over my heart and remove my hat, I’m participating in a self congratulatory glorification of the ONLY country where these mass shootings take place.”
Kapler’s remarks came about days after another sports leader, Golden State Warriors coachSteve Kerr, got emotional and called on politicians to take action following the Uvalde shooting earlier in the week.
In a press conference before the Warriors played the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Western Conference finals, Kerr said he wouldn’t be discussing basketball, stating, “Any basketball questions don’t matter.”
“Since we left shootaround, 14 children were killed 400 miles from here, and a teacher,” Kerr said in a video shared on the Warrior’s officialTwitterpage, his voice noticeably becoming shaky while he appeared to hold back tears.
The winning coach then referenced theBuffalo, N.Y.,tragedy where 10 Black people were killed in a mass shooting at a local grocery store and a shooting at aLaguna Woods, Calif.church that left one person dead and four people critically injured — both of which had happened in the last 10 days, as Kerr noted.
source: people.com
