Why most Gamecock women’s basketball players sat during national anthem
All but one player on the South Carolina women’s basketball team remain seated during the national anthem ahead of the Gamecocks’ season opener on Wednesday, an effort to highlight systemic racism and injustice.
In a statement released on social media during the anthem signed by the entire team, the players referenced the team’s mantra this season of “What Matters.”
“We are a team of individuals who each have opinions about what matters most to us,” the statement read.
“During today’s national anthem, each of us made an individual decision about how to use our platform to call attention to what matters most to us. Many of us stayed seated to shine a light on the need for racial equality, social justice and ending systemic racism in our country. One of us chose to stand in honor of her family’s military service.”
After the game, a 119-38 win over College of Charleston, junior forward Victaria Saxton said the protest has been in the works for a long time.
“Its something we started talking about it a while ago when were back in quarantine,” Saxton said. “So it’s just the individual decision for everybody, and how they feel about all the things that have been going on in the world.”
Junior forward Elysa Wesolek was the only player who stood during the anthem, as did the team’s coaching staff, led by Dawn Staley. In the statement, the players wrote that “we do not believe one action demonizes the other.”
“At the end of the anthem, just as before it, we are a team; and the best part of being on a team is learning from, accepting, and supporting each other’s decisions. While we differed in the way we expressed ourselves today, we are united by that unconditional support of each other.”
Staley and the Gamecock program have been vocal throughout the offseason on social justice issues, with players and coaching staff members attending peaceful protests in the spring as part of the national protests surrounding the death of Black men and women like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Sophomore guard Zia Cooke said Wednesday was an opportunity to ensure those issues stay at the forefront of people’s minds.
“We just wanted everyone to know that we haven’t forgotten about what’s going on,” Cooke said. “Of course this is a basketball game, but ... we haven’t forgotten. There has been a lot of people that may have forgotten about the situation that’s going on, but us on the team, we’re going to be strong together and take a stand together.”
In front of a reduced capacity crowd at Colonial Life Arena, there wasn’t much in the way of reaction from fans to the players’ protest, but Staley said after the game that she did hear at least one person boo. But for her own part, she was proud of her players for exercising their First Amendment rights, though she said she had no input on their decision.
“We didn’t know what was gonna come out of their display of what matters to them. Just like we didn’t know what would come out of even Elysa standing or us standing or us not sitting,” Staley said. “I mean, that’s what they wanted to do. They talked about it as a group outside of the coaches and, we were going to support them no matter what they decided to do.”
Staley said she was unsure whether the protest would continue in future games, but added that her players were ready for any response that will come from their stance.
“Our players really understand in doing this, you know, that it is gonna maybe cause some angst somewhere out there in the universe or nearby. They’re ready. They’re ready to answer questions that that will come with it, and they’re ready for the backlash and they’re ready for the pats on the back that come with it,” Staley said.
This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 12:24 PM with the headline "Why most Gamecock women’s basketball players sat during national anthem."
