After backlash over the Philadlephia 76ers not allowing Sevyn Streeter to sing the national anthem because of a “We Matter” shirt, the Sixers apologized.
On opening night in South Philadelphia for the Philadelphia 76ers, there was anticipation and hope in the air. The pregame festivities were exciting as fans gathered to get the first glimpses of Joel Embiid and Dario Saric before their first games. With the hype of a nationally televised game came the need for some big guest names.
Former Phillies’ first baseman Ryan Howard was there to ring the infamous replica Liberty Bell before the game, and the Sixers booked singer and songwriter Sevyn Streeter to sing the national anthem. That’s not how the night went, though, as the Sixers had a team cheerleader sing the national anthem.
Streeter was barred from singing the national anthem due to a shirt she was wearing that had “We Matter” printed on it, in reference to the Black Lives Matter social movement.
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This caused uproar from multiple different groups. A member of the Sixers organization met with players for 40 minutes at practice the next day, and plenty of fans voiced displeasure with the organization for not allowing her to sing.
I wrote a piece that was critical of the team and called for action from the players.
The Sixers, on Friday, released a statement apologizing for what happened with Streeter.
"“We are sorry that this happened. After receiving feedback from our players, basketball operations staff and ownership group, we believe that the wrong decision was made, and Sevyn should have been welcomed to sing. We apologize to her, and in an effort to move the conversation forward, we have reached out to her to offer her an opportunity to return and perform at a game of her choice. We are waiting to hear back.”"
The Sixers reportedly never gave Streeter any sort of dress code, and didn’t tell her until minutes before she was supposed to sing that she wasn’t allowed to.
Although an apology (although late) is better than no apology, this certainly doesn’t completely rectify the decision that was made, nor does it make the organization look good. There still was an initial action that indicated the team doesn’t support Streeter’s movement, and an indication that the team doesn’t support the BLM movement either.
Given that many of the Sixers players are African American, this can be seen as troubling.
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The Sixers likely had good intentions, despite how it looks. With all the negative attention surrounding the sports world and protests taking place during the national anthem (think of Colin Kaepernick) they were likely just trying to avoid any possible issues with negative light. Instead, however, they got that negativity multiplied over a few times.
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It seems unlikely that Streeter would want to return and sing for the Sixers after what they did to her the first time around, but if she does take up their offer, she almost certainly will be prideful in her beliefs with her wardrobe yet again, and likely even more explicit with it than she was before.