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USWNT member Megan Rapinoe will stand during national anthem

By The Sports Xchange
Midfielder Megan Rapinoe (15) said she will stand for the national anthem next month when the United States plays two international friendly matches against Russia. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
Midfielder Megan Rapinoe (15) said she will stand for the national anthem next month when the United States plays two international friendly matches against Russia. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

Midfielder Megan Rapinoe said she will stand for the national anthem next month when the United States plays two international friendly matches against Russia.

However, the 31-year-old Rapinoe said she will continue to speak out on social issues in America.

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"What has surprised me the most, especially post-election, is that people are still sort of arguing against it," Rapinoe told the Guardian. "It's really obvious that we have very serious inequality in this country across many different spectrums.

"Yes, we can talk about the form of protest, or the way it's done, or this or that. But it's still not really the conversation that I think we desperately need to have more of in this country."

Rapinoe did not receive as much publicity for kneeling during the national anthem as quarterback Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers, but it did not go unnoticed.

U.S. Soccer announced recently announced that it will require all players on American teams to stand when the national anthem is played. Rapinoe has agreed to do so.

"I don't think there's any perfect way to protest," Rapinoe said. "I think if there was something else being done, something else would have been said about it. I can't look back and say that I would have done this different, this different or this different.

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"I can sleep at night knowing that I genuinely tried to have a really important conversation, or at least tried to open it up. I think I came to it with an open mind, an open heart and tried to get as many people to talk about it as I could."

Rapinoe said that by kneeling during the national anthem, she was trying to spark discussion about social issues.

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