National anthem kneeling controversy gets Bardstown back on ABC’s ‘What Would You Do?’

Bardstown will be back on ABC’s “What Would You Do?” Friday night with a scenario ripped from this week’s headlines.

According to ABC News, in the scenario recorded at a Bardstown diner, a black football player tells his white coach he wants to take a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality. The coach tells the young man that if he does that, he will be kicked off the team, and fellow diners chime in. The scenario is then repeated with a white player.

The scenario reflects an issue that had made headlines all week, particularly with the start of the NFL season and a new Nike ad featuring quarterback Colin Kaepernick, whose 2016 decision to kneel rather than stand during the national anthem in protest of racial injustice ignited a firestorm of controversy. Many players followed suit, drawing widespread praise and criticism, including denunciations of the protest by President Donald Trump.

This is Bardstown’s second time on the show in as many weeks. The Aug. 23 episode featured a scenario with a gay couple and their daughter at Mammy’s restaurant and juxtaposed reactions of people in Bardstown to diners at a restaurant in the Bronx, New York, faced with the same scenario. Like that episode, Friday’s edition will show the kneeling scenario played out in New York.

We’re simply trying to shine a light on issues that happen in real life but often occur in the shadows, when no one is watching,” show host John Quinones said in an email interview with the Herald-Leader, last month. “With WWYD’s hidden cameras, we bring them into the light.”

This may not be the last time we see Kentucky on the show, which is at 9 p.m. Friday on ABC (WTVQ-TV Ch. 36, Spectrum Ch. 10).