Tony Bennett supports Virginia basketball team’s protest photo

The night before the Virginia men’s basketball team officially started its 2016-17 season, several players posted a photo of the team kneeling as a sign of unity against social injustice. The photo, which featured Virginia players dressed in all black with their arms interlocked over the “V” at midcourt on the floor of John Paul Jones Arena, was posted to several players’ individual social media accounts on Sept. 29, hours before the first practice of the season.

The photo was coordinated and put online without Coach Tony Bennett’s knowledge. Since then, the picture has sparked dialogue between players and coaches and led to a planned meeting between the team and members of the Charlottesville police department.

Bennett said Monday that to him, the photo has become a symbol of peace.

“I really wasn’t aware that they were gonna take that picture, that’s something they wanted to do,” Bennett said in a telephone interview about the upcoming season. “The thing that was real unique about it was after that picture was taken, we sat down and we’ve had some good dialogue. I made them talk to me. I said, ‘You guys made a statement of unity, what was the picture trying to represent?’ … The thing that came out that was their desire – and that’s why I support what they did – it was their desire, really, to promote awareness of the things going on.”

The photo followed peaceful protests from athletes across the country, themselves following the lead of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who choose to sit, take a knee or raise a fist during the national anthem.

Senior point guard London Perrantes’s tweet of the picture read “Kneel for Injustice. Kneel for Equality. Using our platform to help create change. TOGETHER!”

Bennett is usually cautious about the role social media plays in his players’ lives, but after speaking with his team about the image, was supportive. His main concern was negative reaction online that assumed the Virginia players were taking a stance against police.

“In no way were they trying to disrespect the police, the military or the flag. That was not the intent at all. There’s a lot of social injustice going on, and of course I’m going to support their desire to raise awareness,” Bennett said. He’s helped schedule a meeting between the team and police officers in Charlottesville, including the chief of police, to facilitate continued conversation.

“They want to promote peace, and they were very clear about that. … It was, ‘Okay, we’re raising awareness. Now we want to do something constructive,’ and I really liked that. I think that’s the way things are gonna change. There are so many good things they do that we talk about don’t need to be publicized … but they’re serious about trying to do something and become more educated. They did it on their own, which is obviously their right, and we talked about it after.”