East High School girls flag football team members take a knee during National Anthem … on 9-11

By
Suzanne Downing
-
116

In 2016, the Anchorage East High School girls flag football team all wore patriotic socks when they played their game on Sept. 11.

It was their way of honoring their country on what is a solemn day, a day also known as Patriots Day.

Times are different and this year’s team is different. It is more “woke.” A third of the girls on the East High School Flag Football team “took a knee” to protest America’s faults during the playing of the “National Anthem.”

The girls were getting ready to play Eagle River at Eagle River High School when the tradition of the “National Anthem” was being observed.

116 COMMENTS

    • How dare you! I think these parents are amazing. They are raising young women who make a choice. Who take a stance! You don’t know these girls story. And until you have dealt with racism or had a family member killed by police officer in the wrong, keep your negative comments to yourself!

          • Me Too!!!! These are the same kind of worthless parents in Chicago who let their kids run like animals on the streets ……. then the kid gets shot by a rival gang member. And the parents have the effing nerve to try and impose gun control on honest, law abiding citizens. These stupid parents should be taken out and shot!

      • We can take a stand against racism without disrespecting our nation and the military who fights for our freedom. Take a knee to your new communist slave masters, for that is what the kneelers are doing.

      • One day you will realize, Neicha, that not having experience in something does not automatically preclude one from having an opinion. For example, you have never been a slave. Thus, you aren’t allowed to tell me your opinion on slavery. You have never been a police officer. Thus, you cannot tell anyone your opinion on police training.
        Ah, but you know someone who was killed by police. So that means you CAN speak on police training. Nope, not be your measures. Maybe Caterina is not a parent. But can she have an opinion or a negative comment towards those parents as evidenced by the typical youth who strives to look concerned without knowing many facts?
        Can you compliment those parents? Of course, you can. But the difference, if you are still reading, is we don’t tell you to shut up. Did those girls in 2016 make a choice? Or was it not YOUR choice, and now you must attack Caterina? Your argument falls flat. Your argument doesn’t deserve all these words. But sometimes folks like me get tired of being told to shut up because they don’t “know what it’s like.”
        I have negative opinions about slavery. But I have never been a slave, so should I not voice those opinions? I have negative feelings about cops killing for no reason. But have never been killed or attacked. So, should I keep quiet about my concerns?
        BTW, don’t race to “these girls’ story” indicating you suspect they may have had a family member killed by a cop. That is so rare, to begin with. And so rarer still if unprovoked.
        Oh, and you don’t know these girls. So, how dare you speak for them?
        See how stupid this becomes? Make a good argument instead of attacking a commenter.
        I hope my “attacking” you helps you to think, and does not result in you thinking, “I have just been attacked!” It was not my intention.

      • Neicha,

        Do you like what America has become at the moment? With so much Riots, Men becoming women (which you should be offended if you are a women) , having children’s exposed so much sexualized stuff, along with inflation, high employment rate and much much more. Taking a knee to the American flag is not only offensive but also disrespect to the many Men and Women who died for our freedom and also to the family’s who made sacrifices as well. You have a choice to make something of your life or not. It is based your our character not your race.

        • Everything you said is why those girls took a knee. Americans are so judgemental when it’s not for us to judge. Why the heck would i be upset because a man wants to be a woman? You know half of those young women who wore those patriotic sock shown in the story were GAY?! The school supports that. The American flag is supposed to be a symbol of one nation under God…It’s not…our military has many gay service men and women who serve their country the same as straight, but people miss that part too. People are quick to scream disrepect but Americans are not living up yo those words. Maybe say it yo yourself and think about it really think about it. As the mother of 2 Officers in the military and coming from a host of veteran family members who have stated we fight and fought for our country but it doesn’t alwaya fight for us!! Again this is why the knee.

          • So Neicha, answering what you called disrespect with disrespect is the answer? You can drum up relevant and irrelevant points all day to attempt to excuse disrespecting the Flag and the Anthem but those excuses have no place while giving ceremonial honors to that which should be shown with humility. We stand to give gratitude to those who fought and died for the creation and preservation of freedoms that most have taken for granted. We stand for gratitude of the efforts of our founding fathers for miraculously establishing this great nation of freedom when all odds were against them. We stand to acknowledge the hardships, past, present and future that require allegiance and unity to overcome. But most of all, we stand knowing this Country will never remain FREE by taking a knee.

          • sweet heart, i have Family in the miltary as well! Gain you want to bow down to everything. its funny maybe you should go to another country and see what they really do with gays and women. Again i triggered you and hurt your feelings. The only time you should Kneel is for GOD!

      • White girls are being discriminated against?? Cause that’s all I see. Am I missing something past virtue signaling?

      • Yeah, except for the fact these kids choices are heavily influenced by what their phone says and not actual real life experiences.

        This is Alaska and for the most part, we are damn good to each other, in the real world. I cannot say the same about social media.

        These social justice movements are heavily funded by the same folks who destabilize countries of which America is sent to police.

        The sooner you realize how artificial most of your outrage is, the sooner you will be able to heal and live your life in a more meaningful way.

  2. In Afghanistan girls aren’t allowed outside without a male companion and even then they must wear a burka. Girls aren’t allowed to go to school and certainly aren’t allowed to play sports. These girls need to be taught the meaning of the word perspective…and what it it would mean if they were to gain some of it.

  4. Disrespectful brats. Hey, EHS Pricipal: time to make some changes, or are you part of the problem? Can they get any sicker?

      • As part of a military family I assume that being proud of your daughter for her action means that you support the actions of the other girls that took a knee on Patriot day?
        I do not know where you got your values but but they are an insult to all those and their families who suffered unimaginable tragedy on 9-11.
        I support 1st amendment rights. But I don’t have to respect those who exercise them as you and your daughter have done. It is shameful in my opinion.

      • Shame on you…… this country won’t be free forever. Teaching youth to hate the country will be our downfall. You and your family don’t realize how good you have it.

      • Isn’t that sweet. You are proud. Good for you. What about our national anthem was your daughter protesting that you are so proud of? Military family? Let me guess, you grandfather fought in WWII? LMAO.

      • You should ashamed. Having your child protest for your warped views of this country is disgraceful. Just 20 years ago, you were probably about 6, we had a nation attacked with warriors ready to fight for our honor. Twenty years later, the daughters of those warriors are busy being activists and raising another generation of activists, trying to reshape the Country into some Marxist utopia.
        .
        By the way, you are on welfare as is all who work for the government. It is tax payer money that you see deposited in your account . The government neither manufactures or sells a product nor provides a service for profit.

        • You stated 20 years ago “ we had a nation attacked with warriors ready to fight for our honor.” You then stated “ you are on welfare as is all who work for the government. It is tax payer money that you see deposited in your account.” Wow… talk about warriors on welfare.

      • You should be drummed out of the Military. I have Veteran Friends that have missing legs and can not stand for the Greatest Country in the World’s National Anthem. If you think it is ok to disparage the flag then you or your husband are in direct violation of the OATH TAKEN WHEN ENTERING SERVICE.

        • Steve, I think he/she is the spouse of a military service member, or at least he/she identifies as such. And maybe my he/she is wrong but I’m not up to date on the other 54 genders.

  7. Shame on them! They should have been removed from the field and thrown off the team, but that takes spine on the part of their coach and school. They should be very glad I am not their coach!!! A good paddling is what they deserve and would have gotten.

  8. The kneelers should all be removed from the team for unsportsmanlike conduct and assigned to write a multi-page essay on the horrors of Communism! The coaches who allowed this should be shown the door!

  9. I wonder what our schools would look like if our staff and students put as much energy into actual education as they do in into virtue signaling about things they clearly don’t understand.

      • Neicha, generalizing and blowing the same old tired racist BS is just a way to shut people up. I don’t buy it.
        .
        Numbers say otherwise and facts are what you argue with. Where’s your cries of injustice for the number of blacks killing blacks. Statistically, 2 times as many white men are killed by cops than black. Many large cities have more black cops than white. Many large cities are governed by black Mayors and city councils. The only people interacting with cops are usually doing something they shouldn’t be. Most of those people don’t know how to be respectful to authority.
        .
        Society stopped respecting authority a long time ago. Broken families created no structure for discipline. No respect for parents turned to no respect of teachers. Teachers had the power of discipline stripped from them years ago because parents felt their children could do no wrong. The disrespect spread on to no respect for police and other forms of law enforcement. It is no wonder why we are crashing as a society, but we did it to ourselves. The narcissism, the love of ourselves has turned us rotten to the core and now we just want to blame someone or something else and racism is just one of those excuses. Neicha, you are just a product of lying to yourself as is most of society, always playing victim.

    • I have a grandson in the ASD if I ever get wind that a Teacher is pushing this that will be the last thing they teach.

  13. This is the parents’ fault. And if dad didn’t have the courage to say something before hand or take away all their privileges afterwards then daddy is a coward. Hope that career was worth it mommy. Your little girl hates her country now. A third of the kids? More than any depressing news story this year, and there’s been a lot of them, I think I’m done with this place.

    • First of all the girls parents were there! And yes they were proud! Obviously you sir are a controlling MAN with a scared wife a very sneaky daughter, whose son is a prick because his daddy is one too! Just FYI this country has been hating on little ethnic girls for a long time. Paying attention to the issues of racial inequality and police brutality and acknowledging it shouldn’t be a negative judgement on these girls theie school or the parents.

  15. Sure, let’s heap some opprobrium on the local girl’s soccer team. Sounds like fun on a Sunday morning. Come on, folks!

    Of course, none of you all were ever part of a political demonstration, or any of the Civil Rights movements back in the 60s.

    They are young. Let them observe the faults of the Country, and then try to correct them. Someday soon, they will be in charge.

      • Is there no one who is spared the vicious wrath and cynicism of MRAK? Come on – this is a young girls soccer team! Give them a break and let them spread their wings a little.

        Geez.

    • None that trashed our country or demonized our founding principles. We always protested in support of our country.

    • That’s the point. Some day they will be in charge. They were taught to hate this country. Hate breeds hate. It won’t just go away. These attitudes and beliefs will destroy our country.

    • Whidbey, do you ever look around to see you’re the only one standing up for crap like this. It’s not even like your standing alone on a noble hill, just alone in supporting unpatriotic, ungrateful behavior. You’re not the lone buffalo watching the herd running off the cliff, you are the only buffalo running off the cliff.
      .
      Absolutely no tolerance for our youth with behavior like this should be the standard. How else do you impress upon those who were not alive at the time how impactful this event was. It’s not even the impact of 9/11 that we are letting wash away, it’s the impact of how we became a free nation with more impact for good on a planet than ever existed before us. That’s the reason for standing with respect. It’s about appreciation for something greater than yourself, an appreciation for the blood of those who fought for your freedoms. Disrespecting any of that should NEVER be tolerated. There is a big difference between political activism and disrespect and even activism should be conducted respectfully.
      .
      Parents are failing your children by not teaching the history that your children are not learning in schools. The greatest love you can give your child is knowledge of a path to a secure future of freedom and that can only be done through the knowledge of our true history. Anything less is child abuse.

    • I’m with Whidbey on this one. The role of youth is to question, not comply. Compliance is what got us where we are today. Remember W’s “If you’re not for us, you’re against us.” That immediately said that the US President wanted to be the ruler of the world. In light of recent happenings I think questioning is well in order. If we merely comply, we become the vassals of those at the heights of government.
      I take my hat off when the national anthem is played. It is respect for what I believe are the values of the nation. It is based upon giving everyone an equal chance to advance in American society. It is based on helping our neighbors to succeed.
      I’d knee to that any day.

      • You know who else has been taking a knee for the last week? Every Afghani that supported the United States. All on a knee with a barrel of a weapon pointed at their head just before they went limp from a bullet passing through their head. Video after video, hundreds possibly thousands who believed in freedom that our current administration couldn’t deliver and the freedom that has been completely taken for granite by its own people of the United States.

      • Mr. Homo E.:
        I would also like to see you in psychotherapy. From your words, I can visualize a projected MRI. You need to be stabilized, with or without psychotropics.

  16. Are Mom and Dad proud of their coddled offspring? —A third of the girls on the East High School Flag Teams’ PARENTS need to understand basic respect for America . Is “taking a knee” a by-product of the Anchorage School System ??

    self-conceited, self-important, and rascals one and all. These young ladies are not much different than many of the misdirected self indulgent urchins we have seen previously from our High Schools.

    I will take time to honor and show respect to those girls that stood for the playing of our National Anthem.
    Well done, Ladies.

    • Yes what a shame! What a shame that 3 young girls took a stance on what they believe. And what a shame that most of these comments are from karens and johnnys who have no idea what their bad brats did last night!

  18. Absolutely disgusting behavior on a day that so many innocent Americans died needlessly. Where were the coaches on this? Parents?? What you just watch your anti American child take a knee during the national anthem? This is a virus mentality that needs to be squashed at all corners. I blame all the parents, and partly the coaches.. Someone should have been on this…. To keep these woke idiots on line!

    • It’s been disgusting behavior for years!!! And the parents as well as veteran aunts and uncles were there to watch the girls take a KNEE!!!! So you want someone to blame blame the countries ignorance on the issues of racial inequality and police brutality.

      • Which Black Lives Matter, Neicha? The ones who shed blood to protect our freedom? How about the millions who died in the womb to abortion? You cannot change opinions by force. Yeah, we’ve more to do, but we have also come a long way from the 1950s. Equal opportunity, YES – stop bellyaching and get to work. “Equity” – is just another form of enslavement – never forget that. Stealing from me my pride in our nation or my money to pay “reparations” will do absolutely the opposite of what you intend by your protest. I maintain that these girls, and all the other national anthem kneelers, have no clue of what they so offensively protest. Try protesting in Cuba or China or most of the other countries of the world and see what happens… Be grateful, and tell that chip on your shoulder to leave.

      • I sense a strong and compelling argument for your having been controlled by outside vectors, not voluntarily, but from a weak capacity to withstand an infusion of mental manipulation. Too much CNN and Left-wing influences have diminished, or disabled, your ability to reason. Your thought process is emotion-based with virtually no linkage to rational thought or connectivity. I’ll keep my clinical hours open longer, just for you.

  19. Of course they would take a knee, in my opinion, these students don’t respect themselves why would we expect them to respect the National Anthem. These students need to go to China and experience what would happen to them if they protested. Where are there parents and the Administration at East High.?
    Oh, I forgot , it is Critical Race Teaching hate for all.

  20. When the desire to be accepted has become more important than the truth. They’re willing to cast the truth aside. That’s the problem with “wokeness.” It’s all so fake.

  23. Well, this is what the marxists in the ASD are teaching the kids…all sorts of things to destroy a country from within. The whole team should be shut down and forfeit the rest of the season for this disrespect.

  24. Our schools have been indoctrination camps for some time now. How do we change the system? Vouchers! Cut off the blood supply to the teachers unions.

  26. When America’s borders, language, and culture meant something, this behavior would never have been tolerated by staff or students.
    .
    Sure and people fought and died to protect Americans’ Constitutional freedoms, but that didn’t mean one couldn’t, shall we say say, be held accountable in a confrontational manner for disrespecting American values like her national anthem.
    .
    Fixing the problem would have been straightforward: cancel flag football until 9/11/2022; fire school employees who allowed this behavior, expel students who did it and, as a condition of return, require each to submit a handwritten essay on why Americans stand for their national anthem, especially on 9/11.
    .
    Won’t happen now of course, which leaves productive, patriotic residents wondering why they should pay Anchorage’s education industry to brainwash their children to the point they can’t stand up for their national anthem
    .
    … to brainwash American schoolchildren into kneeling in submission to “wokeness”.
    .
    No law fits the crime which Anchorage’s education industry commits against Anchorage’s schoolchildren, perverting them into useful idiots, political cannon fodder for our Leftist friends.
    .
    A blunt question to Eaglexiters: What’ll keep this anti-American virus out of your new town? The same Anchorage education industry who’s okay with this happening at East High is gonna run your new school system?
    .
    A similar question to the poor parent-taxpayers left behind enemy lines: Producing functionally illiterate students seems bad enough, producing anti-American functional illiterates seems downright rude, so what would it take to get anti-Americanism out of Anchorage schools?
    .
    Probably no right or wrong answer, but this shameful event seems like a wake-up call, something worth serious thought.

  27. There is a time & place for everything. The playing field is NEITHER! When a team or individual takes advantage of that time to promote their personal beliefs, that is wrong! What they need to realize, is that they are entertainment, and nothing more.

  28. You judgemental people get on my nerves! Because it’s 9/11 doesn’t mean that the attention to the issues of racial inequality and police brutality disappear!!! Those young ladies who took a knee stood for what they believe. You don’t know their stories, so your negative comments can kiss it.

    • You judgmental racists get on my nerves, Neicha. I support freedom of speech, even yours – but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to set aside my own feelings to affirm this foolishness. I’m offended and repelled by this form of protest. I stopped watching NFL football for the same reason. There are far more effective ways to improve the things you protest. If we stop teaching racism to our kids, it WILL go away in two or three generations. To bring high school students to the point of this protest, someone was teaching them racism. Let’s try “Love your neighbor as yourself” for starters.

  30. The little Wack a doodle, leftist maniacs who have Kook a doodles for parents!
    This is what happens when they are not taught Civics and America History in public schools.
    What a disgrace!

    • And this exactly how stupid you sound…i do know the girls who took knees during that national anthem!!! Each of those young women having AMAZING parents and come from military back grounds. Proud family members who including myself were present at the game. You sir dont know my history and cannot make claim to know what I have experienced. I for one and sick of people stating claim to judge these young women, but thats typically what white priviledged people do.

      • Neicha, the leftists did a great job brainwashing and filling you with hatred and prejudice against white people. I’m really sorry for you and for your daughter. You need to get past all this rage and hatred and find some joy in life. You don’t want your daughter growing up to be a hater like you.

  31. This is sports! Come on?
    Take your political stance to the platform!
    Let kids be kids and be themselves! Before they have too be adults and fight for their beliefs!

    Let them be kids and play sports with no crap on their shoulders!

  32. These little twits have no idea why they took a knee. They are fundamentally illiterate and have never had a meaningful History or Civics class. They have no real idea of what slavery or the US Civil Rights movement were about. Neither they nor their teachers, unless there are still a few geriatric teachers at East, have anything resembling an education as that term had meaning a half century and more ago.

    The only thing they know about kneeling is that it is cool. Some hunky pro athlete kneeled, some really cool lesbian with purple hair kneeled. Some late night comedian, the adolescents’ source of “news”, said kneeling was cool. Their parents are just as pig ignorant as they and their teachers are. I don’t anticipate we’ll solve this problem in my lifetime, and that is really a good thing. I broke my pick trying to deal with the negative influence of the schools on my own kids; it’s somebody else’s turn.

    • You’re a grown man calling children names…that is pathetic and disrespectful. And just to let you know each one of those young ladies are very intelligent with military family backgrounds. Those girls stood in silence to respect those who were killed in 9/11 and took a knee for what they believe. The country is not fair to all and that is why the knee. Parents did support their decision and guess what smart one…so does the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES!!!!!

      • Somehow beginning in the 1950s a really stupid idea began to pervade our culture; the notion developed that adults should give a damn what children think and even listen to their opinions. If I wanted a child’s opinion, I’d tell them them what it was and wait until they could recite it back correctly.

  34. Spreading their wings is fine, in the appropriate place and at the appropriate time. Without consequences, there are no rewards either, only chaos. That is what they should be taught, by coach, school, parents.

  39. To me it is a show of total disrespect for our country Sad that the schools have to push and welcome behavior that is spitting on our country and flag.

  40. Where was the coach?? He should have forfeited the game and marched them to JBER and had them kneel while putting flags on the Vets graves!

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