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Tampa Bay Lightning’s JT Brown raises fist during national anthem to call attention to racial injustice

By Madeline Dement

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October 7, 2017 10:49 pm

While much of the debate over the appropriateness of kneeling during the national anthem has subsided, the issues of racial injustice that prompted the controversial protests remain. JT Brown of the Tampa Bay Lightning is the first player in the NHL to call attention to the issues during the anthem, but he didn’t do it by kneeling.

Brown instead raised his fist for the duration of the anthem to show his support for the protests in a calculated manner, allowing him to circumvent debate over kneeling. His actions came before the Lightning’s first road game against the Florida Panthers.

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After the game, Brown spoke to the media about his protest. He said “I wanted to do something to show my support. There are some issues that we have to talk about. In my mind, I’m just trying to bring more awareness, and any type of conversation we could get started from it would be great.”

Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times also reports that Brown said “I know there’s going to be negative backlash. But, in my heart, I know I did what was right.”

Tonight was not actually the first time that the 27-year-old raised his fist during the Star-Spangled Banner. He also did so before the Lightning’s September 28th preseason game at home in Tampa.

According to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, the forward decided on his form of protest after consulting several active members of the military on whether or not they considered the protest disrespectful.

“Some will tell you that’s disrespecting the military,” Brown said. “Well, I wanted to hear it from someone who is serving, not some person on Twitter. Some thought (kneeling) was disrespecting, but most felt that we have a right to do it regardless of whether they agree with you or not, or would stand next to you.”

Brown, the son of former NFL running back Ted Brown, previously displayed his support for strengthening racial equality when he donated $1,500 to have a Confederate statue removed from downtown Tampa.

In response to Brown’s decision to raise his fist in solidarity, the Tampa Bay Lightning published a statement affirming their respect for the choices that players make regarding protests, while making clear that they believe that the anthem is a time to “unite as a community.”

The statement reads “The Tampa Bay Lightning celebrate the moment before every game when we can unite as a community, paying homage to a flag that is representative of our nation and those who have sacrificed. At the same time, we respect our players and individual choices they may made on social and political issues.”

With roughly only 30 black players in the NHL, few expected the protests over racial injustice to make waves in the hockey world as they had in the NFL. Former Capital Joel Ward found himself in the debate’s spotlight after saying that he would consider kneeling during the anthem. He decided instead to use the attention he had garnered to publish a statement urging people to focus on “moving progress forward” by focusing on the true cause of the protests.

10/8 Update: Brown published a statement on Twitter on Sunday afternoon, saying “I also wanted to reiterate that this is not and has never been about the military or disrespecting the flag. It is about police brutality, racial injustice, and inequality in this country.”

“I want young minorities to see that what they may be going through is not being ignored by the hockey community,” he said.

Headline photo: @PeteBlackburn