Christian school boots black players off football team for protesting during anthem

A Christian school in Texas ordered two black student athletes to immediately take off their uniforms as they were kicked off the team after protesting racial injustice during the national anthem.

"Cedric Ingram-Lewis raised his fist while cousin Larry McCullough knelt during the anthem ahead of the team's game against Providence Classical," the Houston Chroniclereported. "After the anthem ended, head coach Ronnie Mitchem instructed them to take off their uniforms and kicked them off the team. Mitchem is a former Marine and pastor who started the church-based football program in Crosby six years ago."

Victory and Praise Christian Academy in Houston plays six-man football. Instead of 11 players on the field per team, the V&P Sharks only field six -- who play on an 80-yard field, instead of the traditional 100-yards.

With such a small program, it was even more surprising that Victory & Praise coach Ronnie Mitchem kicked two players off the squad. Less than two weeks ago, the Christian school blamed a 40-point loss on having three injured players.

"He told us to take off our uniform and leave it there," sophomore Cedric Ingram-Lewis told the Chron.

His mother plans to complain, but doesn't want her son back on the team.

"A man with integrity and morals and ethics and who truly lives by that wouldn't have done anything like that," Rhonda Brady said. "So, for him to do what he did, that really spoke volumes and I don't want my kids or my nephew to be around a man with no integrity."

The coach suggested that instead of taking part in the nationwide protest movement started by Colin Kaepernick, instead players should write and then pass out a paper on injustice.

"They chose to do that and they had to pay for the consequences," Coach Mitchem said.