Tommia Dean, a former Kennesaw State cheerleader who kneeled during the national anthem before a football game last year, spoke about her experiences protesting at KSU on a live episode of “The View” on Wednesday, Sept. 19.
Dean spoke as a guest on the popular talk show as part of their Hot Topics table, a segment of the show where the hosts usually give their take on the day’s news. During the segment, the hosts asked Dean what lead to her decision to protest.
“After seeing the many killings and the many attacks against minorities by police officers, I thought it was crazy to have that many, and I didn’t think that it was right for minorities to have to walk around and be terrified every day,” she said.
Dean spoke with the hosts of the show about Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren’s reaction to her and four other cheerleaders taking a knee during the national anthem before a football game in 2017 and about the university’s later decision to keep the team off of the field during the anthem.
The hosts of the show also asked Dean about the athletic department’s decision to cut four of the five cheerleaders that protested before last year’s game after tryouts this year. KSU senior Shlondra Young is the only cheerleader out of the five that protested that remains on the team this year.
“I think it would have looked really suspicious if you cut all five of us,” Dean said. “I think out of all of us, she has the most skills and she’s the oldest, so I think it just made more sense.”
Dean emphasized that the protest is not meant to “come across as disrespectful to the military.” She said the protest is used as a way to bring attention to and stand up to police brutality against minorities.
Dean filed a lawsuit against KSU and Georgia state officials earlier this month on Sept. 5, saying that the officials violated her civil rights when they kept her off of the field during the national anthem last year. The complaint says the decision was meant as a way to keep the cheerleaders from protesting.
The complaint also states that Dean has suffered from migraine headaches and emotional distress, and is suing for monetary damages for “the violation of her constitutional rights.”
Dean told the hosts on “The View” that the only way for people for or against kneeling during the national anthem to move on with the issue would be to listen to and respect those on the other side of the conversation.
“Eventually, if you respect each other, you will understand each other,” Dean said.
