Malcolm Jenkins: Eagles planning protest during national anthem
The Philadelphia Eagles are planning a national anthem protest ahead of Monday night’s game against the Bears, safety Malcolm Jenkins said on SportsRadio 94 WIP.
Jenkins said he thought there would “definitely” be Eagles players showing solidarity with the growing movement among athletes taking a stand against racial injustice and police violence in the United States. 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started the practice in the preseason, and players around the league and in other sports are beginning to follow suit.
“Last week, we talked about doing some stuff, but we wanted to make sure that we didn't do anything to take away from the families that suffered from 9/11," Jenkins said, according to ESPN. "We didn't want to mess with that day, so we left last week alone. But moving forward, I'm sure there will be guys that will probably join in.”
"For me, it has nothing to do with this country or the flag or the anthem in itself," he added. "Really it's just to continue to push forward the conversation about social injustice, and that's a range of things from police brutality to wages and job opportunities, education. There's just a lot of things systematically that have been set up in this country since its inception that put minorities, especially African Americans, at a disadvantage when you talk about quality of life and actually growing in this country.”
Jenkins said it was unclear still how the team would execute its protest, but said he doubted any of his teammates would be kneeling during the anthem as Kaepernick and others have.
The Eagles play in Chicago against the Bears on Monday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
