Meghan Linsey Is Facing Backlash for Kneeling During the National Anthem

Taysha Murtaugh
Updated
Photo credit: Ryan Hermens/The Paducah Sun/AP
Photo credit: Ryan Hermens/The Paducah Sun/AP

From Country Living

This weekend, about 150 players across the NFL protested during the National Anthem, whether by kneeling, sitting, or not appearing on the field at all. But the act wasn't limited to those in pads and helmets: Singer Meghan Linsey, former winner of the CMT reality show Can You Duet and the 2015 runner-up on The Voice also made the decision to "take a knee" at the moment she sang the final note of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks game on Sunday. Now, Linsey is facing backlash from some country music fans, while receiving support from others.

"I was absolutely terrified walking out there," Linsey told Yahoo of her controversial decision to kneel at Nashville's Nissan Stadium. "I knew what I was getting ready to do, and I understood what it meant. Obviously, I made a name for myself in country music, and I knew what the backlash would be. So I walked out there scared. But I have to go into my gut and my heart, and I knew that was the right thing to do today."

Linsey's guitarist, Tyler Cain, joined the singer in kneeling-the two stood arm-in-arm the whole time. The coordinated protests came in response to President Donald Trump criticizing football players like Colin Kaepernick, who started the kneeling movement last year to protest police brutality and racial inequities.

"Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, say, 'Get that son of a b-h off the field right now, out, he's fired,'" Trump said during a rally in Alabama last Friday night.

Despite the president's comments, the NFL team owners have largely backed the players' decisions.

The Seahawks shared the above statement, while the Titans issued a similar one:

"As a team, we wanted to be unified in our actions today. The players jointly decided this was the best course of action. Our commitment to the military and our community is resolute and the absence of our team for the national anthem shouldn't be misconstrued as unpatriotic."

Linsey admitted that until this weekend, she hadn't given the issue much thought. "Then I was thinking about the things that [the president] said yesterday, and I thought, 'Man, it really does need to be addressed, and I think I'm in a position to take a stand and hopefully make a difference.' I have a lot of African-American friends, and they can't stand alone."

However, some country music fans were not happy with her actions, calling them "disgraceful" and "unpatriotic".

Linsey insisted that she loves America, though, saying:

"I'm not unpatriotic. I appreciate our men and women in uniform. That's not the issue. I think the issue is the things that are happening around us with racism, and Trump will come out and openly condemn NFL players for peacefully protesting, but then these white national terrorists bring their tiki torches and cause this violence, and then he has nothing to say. It was important to me to stand with [African-Americans] ... I couldn't have gone out there and not done anything and felt good about it, because I have always built this platform on empowerment and loving people, whatever color, whatever sexual orientation. And it was like: Of all the days that I would sing the anthem! It put me in a weird spot. You're making a choice when you walk out there, however you handle it. If you don't take a knee, it's like: What do you stand for? For me, anything else wasn't an option."

But others (including country DJ Bobby Jones) have lauded the Steel Magnolia singer for her courage to stand up (or rather, kneel down) for what she believes in.