A change.org petition helped right the wrong of two young high school football players in Miami. On September 11, the 20th anniversary of our nation’s devastating terrorist attacks, two young players ran onto the football field waving a “thin blue line” flag and a “thin red line” flag to honor first responders and those who perished. The message was particularly meaningful for cornerback Brady Williams and linebacker Jared Bentley of Little Miami High School because they are reportedly sons of a police officer and a firefighter.
However, the boys’ respectful gesture resulted in their suspension. With the help of media coverage and a change.org petition that received 19,512 signatures, the boys were reinstated. Little Miami school board president Bobbie Grice said the players have been returned to active status. “The results show that there were no political motivations behind this display of support for first responders on 9/11, but there were stances of insubordination,” said Grice.
The “insubordination” referenced is that the boys were told not to take the flags onto the field prior to the game. Grice defended the school more saying “Little Miami Local Schools is saddened to see this story take such a negative turn. The district enjoys an outstanding relationship with our local police and fire agencies.”
Grice did add that only the United States of America and the Little Miami spirit flags would be allowed to go through the tunnel for the rest of the season. “Moving forward, Little Miami is returning the players to active status and this matter will be addressed as an Athletic Department Code of Conduct issue, with any potential consequences to be handled by coaching staff.”
One parent was deeply offended. Megan Adkins says her third-grade Black son deserves to feel safe in the school system and believes the flags represent a “rebuttal of the Black Lives Matter movement” which alienates Black students. “Clearly this is a political statement because of people contacting (President) Donald Trump and becoming overly aggravated…If you look at the support pages, it is almost all white folks,” she said. “I get it. People want to support what they believe in. But not at the cost of my son and his worries of what police could do to him just simply for the color of his skin” added Adkins.
