BREAKING: Temple University’s Black Student Union will protest the national anthem at Homecoming

The organization originally posted its announcement on Twitter

Today, the Temple University Black Student Union announced its members would not rise to sing the national anthem at this weekend’s homecoming football game — and all of Temple’s football games thereafter.

In its letter, posted on Twitter, the BSU outlined its reasoning for partaking in the protest.

The letter read, “Temple’s Black Student Union is extremely disturbed and disheartened by the social climate of the country we live in — bearing in mind the recent murders of Terence Crutcher, Keith Lamont Scott, Tawon Boyd, and the countless and continuous acts of police brutality towards Black and brown people.”

The letter went on to cite the protest would be and an effort to “dismantle the system that oppresses us, resist the oppressors, and to unite our people in strength and solidarity.”

The BSU’s decision to protest the National Anthem comes after today’s most recent cell phone video Keith Lamont Scott’s family released today. The video shows an officer shouting, “Drop the gun.” Scott’s wife shouts back in the video, “He doesn’t have a gun.” Also today, the Oklahoma officer Betty Shelby who shot Terence Crutcher formally surrendered herself to authorities after being charged with felony manslaughter in the first degree yesterday.

Echoing the protests of the National Anthem sweeping through America — started by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick — Temple’s BSU is making sure it’s being clear on why this is necessary.

BSU Vice President Amir Foster elaborated on his organizations stance:

“Right now I feel that the state of race relations in America is very upsetting. It saddens me that we are in 2016 and have an African-American president and Black and brown bodies are still being treated as less than human. The system that was put in place to serve people in this country oppresses us every day and we are sick and tired. That is why it’s important that we do demonstrations such as sitting during the national anthem.  The national anthem and the foundation of this country are inherently racist. We can’t stand for a song that mentions the killing of slaves. Until we get the respect that we deserve, more demonstrations will occur.”

 

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