The #TakeAKnee movement is spreading beyond American football.
This past weekend, football players across the NFL followed in the footsteps of Colin Kaepernick and took a knee during the customary pre-game singing of the US national anthem to protest racial inequality and police violence in the US. Athletes from other sports also joined in over the weekend, followed closely this week by celebrities. Next up: Scientists.
Melissa Bates, a physiologist and associate professor at the University of Iowa, suggested on Twitter on Monday (Sept. 25) that scientists take a knee in solidarity with the athletes. “We have to recognize that this is a problem and be better as a nation. The systematic killing of black Americans has to stop,” Bates wrote in a blog post.
Scientists on Twitter began chiming in to announce they’d be participating in #ScientistsTakeAKnee on Tuesday. Some say they plan to take photos of themselves kneeling in solidarity, to post on social media.
A blogger who identifies themselves as a National Institutes of Health-funded researcher wrote that they’ll take a knee “likely in front of my workplace where there is a sign proudly identifying our lovely institution.”
“Think about all of those kids who have been shot,” the researcher wrote. “Think about your fellow citizens that most certainly will continue to be shot by the cops without anything resembling penalty for the criminals. Think about how science may not be doing enough for all of us.”