Colin Kapernick’s National Anthem protest is spreading all across the sports world, including college football. This past Saturday, Nebraska football players Michael Rose-Ivey, Mohamed Barry and DaiShon Neal took a knee during the anthem. While Barry says he’s seen more positive that responses than negative, Rose-Ivey told media that he’s receiving the polar opposite.

For about 7 minutes, Rose-Ivey talked about the backlash and racist comments he’s received and defended his position. “While the anthem played, I prayed along with DaiShon and Mohamed, and we asked God to watch over us and protect us, to look down on this country with grace and mercy and to look down on all of us with grace and mercy,” he began.

Rose-Ivey said that they felt it was their duty to speak up and use their platforms to highlight the systemic issue of injustices against people of color in the United States. He said while he understood the implications of their actions, they did not expect the amount of hateful and racist comments that they’ve received from “friends, peers, fans, members of the media.” He says that these reactions further prove the need for the protests.

“I was still referred on Facebook and Twitter as a “clueless, confused nigger” by former high school classmates, friends, peers, and even Huskers fans. Some believe DaiShon, Mohamed, and myself should be kicked off the team or suspended, while some say we should be lynched or shot just like the other black people that have died recently. Another believed that since we didn’t want to stand for anthem, that we should be hung before the anthem before the next game. These are actual statements we received from fans. People assume this is just Internet talk, but I can tell you from my own experience at this very institution and visiting other college campuses within the past four years that racism is still a problem that must be addressed. I can’t tell you the numerous amount of times I’ve heard the N-word being shouted at my teammates and I from opposing fans from behind our bench. My freshman year, I can remember going to a frat party and was told that ‘n—–s are not allowed in this house.’ We were escorted out several minutes later by security officers.”

Rose-Ivey said that as black athletes, they can no longer stay silent. “I believe in the promise of America, that tell me all men are created equal, and have the right of liberty, justice and equality. But unfortunately, America doesn’t always live up to those ideals. So in the words of James Baldwin, ‘I love America more than any other country in the world, and exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.'”

He hopes that by taking a knee, people will be challenged to come together and change the issues plaguing our country.

You can watch his whole speech above and view the transcript here.

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Michael Rose-Ivey

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