Former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler made healdines on Tuesday morning after he knelt with a group of players and coaches during the national anthem on Monday evening.
The San Francisco Giants' new manager joined two of his coaches and several players, including Jaylin Davis, Austin Slater, Mike Yastrzemski and Chadwick Tromp, in protest of systemic racism and police brutality in the Black community. A month ago, Davis wrote a blog about his experience with racism on the Giants' website.
Gabe Kapler, along with a bunch of SF Giants players and coaches, took a knee during last night's National Anthem. pic.twitter.com/dKFql61JsN
— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) July 21, 2020Kapler addressed his team before their exhibition game against the Oakland A's on Monday night and shared his plan to protest:
"The first message was that our coaching staff and our organization would support any statement they wanted to make," Kapler said. "If they kneeled for the anthem, we would support that. If they stood for the anthem, we would support that too. We wouldn't pass judgment on them for making any statement or standing up for what they believe in or for expressing themselves.
"I wanted them to know that I wasn't pleased with the way our country has handled police brutality, and I told them I wanted to amplify their voices and I wanted to amplify the voice of the Black community and marginalized communities as well. So I told them that I wanted to use my platform to demonstrate my dissatisfaction with the way we've handled racism in our country. I wanted to demonstrate my dissatisfaction with our clear systemic racism in our country, and I wanted them to know that they got to make their own decisions, and we would respect and support those decisions. I wanted them to feel safe in speaking up."
A statement from the Giants' Austin Slater on his decision to peacefully protest racial injustice by taking a knee for the anthem tonight: pic.twitter.com/lqtLkx8sE7
— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) July 21, 2020The protest occured at the Oakland Coliseum, the same place where former A's catcher Bruce Maxwell took a knee in 2017, becoming the first MLB player to kneel for the anthem. On Monday night, Kapler became the first head coach or manager in a major North American professional sport to kneel during the anthem.
Bruce Maxwell, the first #MLB player to kneel during national anthem, becomes emotional in applauding #SFGiants manager Gabe Kapler and players for shining light on injustice https://t.co/oCqSbL2PMy
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 21, 2020Kapler enters his first year as manager with the Giants after he was released by the Phillies after two years with the organization.
