150 march to protest Catholic Diocese of Lansing national anthem, pledge policies

LANSING — More than 150 people knelt outside the Catholic Diocese of Lansing offices Monday morning as the national anthem played on a portable speaker. 

The protest on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was the latest demonstration in months of controversy surrounding discipline of students who kneel during the national anthem and Pledge of Allegiance at local Catholic schools. 

Four Lansing Catholic High School football players were initially benched leading up to an Oct. 6 home game after saying they planned to kneel during the national anthem. Ultimately, the players didn't start the game but were allowed to play. 

Matthew Abdullah, Michael Lynn III, Kabbash Richards and Roje Williams were the four football players who decided to kneel. Two of the students, Lynn and Abdullah, have since transferred to Sexton and Holt high schools, respectively. 

Rovonya Velasquez, the mother of Roje Williams, said she and other parents are frustrated with the lack of communication from the school and the Diocese. She said the Diocese has repeatedly declined requests from parents to speak with Bishop Earl Boyea.

"We make sacrifices in order to send our children to Catholic schools, to parochial schools, like everybody else," she said. "Why should we have to leave? I didn't pay for racism." 

On Friday, the Diocese of Lansing released a statement saying faculty and staff at Lansing Catholic High School were set to participate in an intercultural competency workshop Monday.

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In a Monday statement, the diocese said it stands by the policy. 

"This is a difficult issue and we respect anyone fighting for social justice. At the same time, in our Catholic schools, we have always asked students to stand for the anthem and pledge," Michael Diebold, a diocese spokesman wrote. 

Diebold's statement also said that it's not true that school administrators have been unwilling to meet with parents. 

"Officials at Lansing Catholic and (Immaculate Heart of Mary-St. Casimir School) have met with concerned parents and have been in communication with them," Diebold said. "School officials have offered alternate ways to allow protest and address concerns, which were rebuffed."

In late October, the four Lansing Catholic football players and their parents sent a three-page letter to five Lansing Catholic administrators. The letter requested an apology for how the school handled issues surrounding the kneeling and outlined proposals for improving race relations within the school, including speakers, events and the recruitment of diverse staff.

In November, officials at Immaculate Heart of Mary-St. Casimir School said kneeling in protest of racial injustice is "not appropriate" during the pledge and national anthem in schools. Any student who chooses not to stand for the pledge will be sent home for the day, according to a letter sent to parents. If it happens a second time, the student will be sent home for the rest of that week.

Paul Torok, one of the organizers of Monday's protest, said his son decided to kneel for the pledge at  Immaculate Heart. He said he was caught off guard by the school's policy, and hoped the protest could help spur conversations between parents, students and administrators.  

"I want active dialogue with families most impacted by this as a group," he said. 

In December, Lansing Catholic sent a letter which doubled down on the anti-kneeling policy. Students who kneel during the anthem at winter sports games will be barred from participating in that game, according to the letter.

Michael Lynn Jr., the father of Michael Lynn III, said he wants the school to release a formal apology and remove its policy banning kneeling for the anthem. 

"It's a racist policy," he said. "If they don't remove the policy then there's no healing." 

Contact reporter Haley Hansen at (517) 267-1344 or hhansen@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @halehansen.