No stand, no service. That would best describe the account being told by Oakland A’s catcher and anthem protester, Bruce Maxwell. Who claims that a waiter in an Alabama restaurant refused to serve him after the server recognized him as baseball’s sole anthem protester.
Maxwell became the first MLB player to take up NFL player Colin Kaepernick’s protests at the start of Oakland’s 1-0 win over the Texas Rangers last month. Now Maxwell is saying, in a new interview with TMZ Sports, that a waiter at an Alabama eatery recognized him as the anthem protester and refused to serve him. Maxwell claimed he had to go to the restaurant’s manager to get a replacement waiter to serve him.
In the interview, Maxwell claimed that he and a Harvest, Alabama, city councilman—who is black—tried to get lunch but met resistance:
I got racially profiled in my hometown the day I got home. I wasn’t even home four hours, and I got denied service at lunch with our city councilman who is also an African American guy I went to high school with because the dude recognized me as the guy who took a knee and he voted for Trump and was at that Trump rally in Huntsville, Alabama.
And so he denied us service at lunch, and they had to go get us another waiter to wait on our table in that same restaurant.
He was like, ‘Oh, yeah, you’re that guy, huh?” And I was like, “scuse me?” He was like “Yea, you’re the guy that took the knee?” He goes, “I voted for Trump, and I stand for everything he stands for.”
…..
That’s where I’m from. Unless you’re subjected to it, you won’t understand it, you won’t feel it. But it’s like, I’m 26 years old, I’m very respectful, I’m very educated. And it still happens to this day. And so … that’s the reason I’m kneeling.
Why Maxwell wants to be celebrated for protesting at work while attacking this waiter who protested at work does not seem to be a question the player entertained.
Maxwell has been fending off scorn, though, since he took a knee. After the Sept. 23 game, Maxwell posted a statement insisting that he was not disrespecting the country or the flag with his anthem protest:
The point of my kneeling was not to disrespect our military or our constitution or our country. My hand was over my heart because I love this country and I have family members, including my father, who bled for this country, and who continue to serve. At the end of the day, this is the best country on the planet. My hand over my heart symbolized the fact that I am and forever will be an American citizen, and I’m more than forever grateful for being here. But my kneeling is what’s getting the attention because I’m kneeling for the people who don’t have a voice.
This goes beyond the black and Hispanic community. Because right now we have a racial divide in all types of people. It’s being practiced from the highest power that we have in this country, and he’s basically saying that it’s OK to treat people differently. My kneeling, the way I did it, was to symbolize the fact that I’m kneeling for a cause, but I’m in no way disrespecting my country or my flag.
Bruce Maxwell: pic.twitter.com/fRaVHf2gPs
— Jane Lee (@JaneMLB) September 24, 2017
This explanation does not wash with many fans. The national anthem is a time for standing in respect for the country. But, for many Americans, protesting during that time indicates a stance against the United States of America.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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