Twitter Lambastes KC Chiefs Fans that Booed Pregame Moment of Unity, Then Performed ‘Tomahawk Chop’
https://youtu.be/6Fiy8IJM9rQ
The NFL kicked off the 2020-21 season Thursday night as the Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Houston Texans amid the ongoing pandemic and a national reckoning on racial injustice in which the NFL has played a central part.
The national anthems — “The Star Spangled Banner” and “Lift Every Voice” — went off mostly without incident, though the Texans stayed in the locker room and one member of the Chiefs took a knee.
But it was a moment that followed in which both teams joined arms in the center of the field in a show of unity that got the most reaction, particularly from the sparse crowd due to social distancing. As you can see in the video above, via NBC, the video feed caught audible booing coming from the fans.
To make matters worse for many concerned with social justice and cultural appropriation, Chiefs fans followed the booing with their “tomahawk chop” chant, which is modeled off of in-game behavior of fans of the Florida State Seminoles. The Chiefs organization recently announced they were looking into this cheer and other representations of indigenous peoples amid criticism that it was culturally inappropriate if not racist.
None of this went over well in the blue-checked regions of Twitter, which reacted to the booing and tomahawk chopping about like you’d expect. For example:
Some Chiefs fans booed NFL players standing in unity for racial equality. Once over, fans happy that football is back went in to the “tomahawk” chop. This doesn’t seem real.
— Rex Chapman?? (@RexChapman) September 11, 2020
The way your team name, mascot (a pinto horse — commonly associated with/utilized by indigenous people — called WARPAINT), and tomahawk chop are set up https://t.co/c6fC6Vs1A5
— Zoé (@ztsamudzi) September 11, 2020
It just seems a little hypocritical considering all we’ve been through with rebranding @WashingtonNFL to turn on the TV and see Kansas City doing the tomahawk chop. Double standard for the champs.
— Jason Fraley (@JFrayWTOP) September 11, 2020
The Chiefs and Texans players showing unity — and fans booing that display before doing the tomahawk chop — was a dead-on accurate representation of where this country is.
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) September 11, 2020
Yeah he did. And then they went right into the tomahawk chop. I. Am. Done. https://t.co/xJ6ckPaEQY
— Renel Brooks-Moon (@RenelSFVoyce) September 11, 2020
Wow. There appeared to be loud boos from the Kansas City crowd during “the moment of unity,” a call for social justice, as the Chiefs and Texans lined up and linked arms before the NFL opener.
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) September 11, 2020
They recovered from clutching their pearls to do the tomahawk chop.
— John Lewis WDRB (@JohnWDRB) September 11, 2020
chiefs fans really saw these billboards and boo’d them. pic.twitter.com/y1qeKem3tG
— whitney medworth (@its_whitney) September 11, 2020
Why would you boo this???? https://t.co/aNrW8mKy8u
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) September 11, 2020
Did Chiefs fans boo the moment of silence??!!
Garbage humans— Margaret Menefee (@MargaretMenefee) September 11, 2020
I would LOVE to see an interview with someone–ANYONE–in the crowd who just chose to boo a “moment of silence and unity.”
Just try not to sound like a complete and utter idiot putting into words why you’re angry about UNITY.
Morons. All of them.
— Sarah Spain (@SarahSpain) September 11, 2020
Tonight boos from Kansas City Chiefs fans only justifies that it was never the disgrace of the flag that people were upset about.
— Brett Maline (@breezy__f__baby) September 11, 2020
Some fans chose to boo the players when they locked arms in a show of unity before the @Chiefs game.
These “fans” were booing unity. Think about how absurd that is. Hate for the sake of hate.
While any kind of racism disgusts me, they don’t speak for our city or our country.
— John Fein (@johnfein) September 11, 2020
Pretty sure that if you’re the type of person who would boo during a moment of silence for ‘unity’, you’re part of the problem and a POS.
‘NFL fans, reporters express disgust with Chiefs fans booing during unity moment’ https://t.co/dVp5HKVufo— Penny Timms (@pennytimms) September 11, 2020
Let’s talk about what Chiefs are booing
They are booing their own players, peacefully asking for a more just and equal society
More specifically, they’re booing athletes for asking that police not disproportionately target Black people for violence
What kind of human boos THAT https://t.co/DJQFSBDhh6
— Bryan Behar (@bryanbehar) September 11, 2020
