Analysis Of The National Anthem By Colin Kaernick

In 2017 controversy struck when the NFL tried “taking a stance” and protesting the National Anthem. In this protest, many NFL players one by one knelt down while the National Anthem played at their sporting event. The National Anthem is a song for our country and symbol to represent all of the men and women who have fought in our military. This song is not played just for our entertainment, it is to honor the flag and what it stands for. The protesting was started by Colin Kaepernick, last season, when he was the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. He was the first player to take a knee during the playing of the National Anthem, now many other NFL players this season are following in his path and doing the same thing. Many players and viewers claim it is for police brutality and the injustice that is being served, while other viewers see it as entitled millionaires disrespecting the flag and the military. Everyone has different opinions on the issue, but no matter what the country needs to respect one another as humans and be united; the American Flag is a symbol of our freedom and the NFL needs to recognize the National Anthem rather than kneeling and disrespecting what it stands for.

Protesting in the National Football League has been going on, as some of the country’s most beloved and highly recognized athletes are seen disrespecting the United States of America on national TV every weekend. The players’ reason for the protesting is police brutality, you can see them kneeling, raising their fist in the air, or even sit in the locker room while the national anthem is being played. Although I do understand what they are trying to do, I believe that there definitely better ways to go about their protest. The protests started in 2016 when Colin Kaepernick, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, took a knee during the national anthem. When question about his actions he responded by saying, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour”(Lake). While some people sided with Kaepernick most people took offense to his decision to kneel. In him doing this it has caused a league wide outbreak in protest; as players and sometimes even whole teams take a knee or show some type of protest during our country's anthem.

In August of 2016, Kaepernick began his protest during a NFL preseason game where he initially sat during the singing of the national anthem. At the time, his rebellious efforts became unnoticed, but he soon enough made headlines when someone took a photo of him sitting during the anthem. Thus a social issue was born from the public’s reaction from the photo.The negativity of the public’s reaction stemmed from the norm that it is customary that people raise their right hand over their heart while facing the flag when the Star-Spangled-Banner is playing, so if one does not follow this norm it is identified showing disrespect. Inevitably, the prediction of the people’s reaction were to be expected as they were outraged when Kaepernick broke the norm. Although, it is legal for individuals not to follow these sacrosanct protocols, citizens of the United States find this norm obligatory.Would you stand by and constantly watch the same social issues to keep reoccurring in your neighborhood? Not only that but it keeps happening to different people by the same organization? When numerous acts of police brutality occurred, Colin Kaepernick decided to protest. He could no longer stand by and do nothing; he decided to take a knee. For professional National Football League (NFL) player, Colin Kaepernick, his response was “no”. One of the last waves that came toward the end of the summer is the kneeling while the national anthem played during sporting events. When Kaepernick decided to

Over the last few years police brutality and social injustice have been very prevalent in the media. In 2016, a protest for social injustice and police brutality directed towards African Americans was started by NFL player Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick began to kneel during the national anthem to bring attention to social issues. Since then Kaepernick has received praise from the black community and even more backlash, including from the president. Other NFL players began to support Kaepernick and kneel along with him. Kaepernick was later fired for his actions. I am going to discuss whether or not NFL players should be allowed to kneel during the national anthem while they are playing.

At the start of the 2016 NFL preseason, Colin Kaepernick, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, decided to take a seat during the National Anthem. His gesture during the first preseason game went unnoticed until the third preseason game. Many Americans disapproved and were very angry with him because America thinks sitting during the National Anthem is disrespectful to our military and our Nation. In an interview,32 Kaepernick said he was doing this because there is too much racial discrimination and police brutality against blacks. By the last preseason game, Kaepernick was kneeling instead of sitting because he respects the former and current military and he thought sitting was too disrespectful against the military. As the NFL season continues, so does Kaepernick's protest. Americans should be for the National Anthem Protest because the protest is fighting racial discrimination and police brutality.

I was terribly disappointed when I witnessed the act of Colin Kaepernick kneeling for the National Anthem at the 49er’s first preseason game. He is protesting to show support for people of opposite ethnicities that are being oppressed in the United States. He is trying to bring attention to the police killings. A similar protest about being oppressed and the police brutalities is Black Lives Matters (BLM). They are taking the protest to a more violent level. Such as destroying police cars, motorcycles, beating people, burning the American flag, and so on. I understand the purpose behind the protests, but there are other ways to get their point across without disrespecting the country and everything it stands for. Not only are they disrespecting

"It's an oxymoron that you're sitting down, disrespecting that flag that has given you the freedom to speak out" (Brees). Many athletes have expressed what they believe in by taking action. Some are disrespectful actions and others are meaningful in spreading their cause. A big representation, especially across the NFL, is kneeling while our country’s anthem is played. The movement across the league of kneeling was introduced by Colin Kaepernick, QB of the 49ers. Many people think that what he and other players are doing is the wrong way to represent a cause and that it needs to be fixed.

The people of America have always stood for the National Anthem. Of course they have they are American. Why wouldn’t you want to stand up and be a proud American as some would say?

The 49ers quarterback has been making a statement for the past couple weeks during the American national anthem. Colin Kaepernick has been sitting or kneeling during the national anthem when traditionally people stand and pay respect to all of those who have died to protect their freedom. Kaepernick is being unpatriotic. It does not matter what reason you have you should find a different place to stage your views instead of during our national anthem. In Jaweed Kaleem’s article “In the ‘land of the free,’ are you free to sit out the national anthem” he says that Kaepernick has”kneeled when the patriotic music started.” He did this on the annual Salute to the Military night when retired veterans and others who fought for his freedom came to

The first amendment in the Constitution of the United States of America is about the freedom of speech. This is the right to express any opinions without censorship or restraint. Colin Kaepernick is using his first amendment right to say what he wants to say and that is perfectly fine, of course people will have their own opinions which is also perfectly fine the problem is his timing. With everything that’s going on in the world today and all of the people that are divided it’s important for people with a voice to speak out for those that don’t, the problem with Kaepernick’s situation is that by kneeling during the national anthem at the football games he’s protesting while at work. I understand why he is kneeling and I also understand that he is kneeling during the game to bring awareness to his cause but at the end of the day he is protesting while at work. I’m not saying he should be fired, in fact I’m saying the opposite. It all comes down to the teams because it’s their decision if there should be any actions taken against him since they would be his boss. This was the main topic in Forbes magazine when Marc Edelman covered the story on whether or not the NFL can fire players for kneeling during the national anthem.

After watching day after day of the many police shootings killing innocent Blacks on the news it was only a matter of time before someone rose to the action. That person was Colin Kaepernick and his way of showing a difference was to kneel instead of stand during the National Anthem before their game against the Los Angeles Rams in week one.

I think that Kaepernick is stupid and very disrespectful to our nation and to all of the men and women who fight for our country. Collin will kneel during the playing of the national anthem, while their are people with no legs that still try and stand up during the national anthem. I believe that he is in the wrong here, because he is disrespectful to the nation. “In the ‘land of the free,’ are you free to sit out the national anthem?” by Jaweed Kaleem, he writes about what Kaepernick was doing, did before the football games. Now, since he started doing this kneeling before the game, it has brought out many other players and their beliefs about standing up and placing their hands across their hearts, so the players are either kneeling or raising

The United States Flag is a symbol of all the soldiers that have and are currently fighting for our country. So, when Colin Kaepernick didn’t stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner”, it caused a huge uprising throughout the world. In the article “In the ‘land of the free,’ are you free to sit out the national anthem?” from the Los Angeles Times, it says that the reason Colin chose not to stand was because of the division of the country. “The country is divided between Black Lives Matter- a movement who activism over police shootings of black men Kaepernick tweets about to his 900,000 followers - and Blue Lives Matter” (Kaleem). I believe that the what people are saying about Kaepernick being disrespectful to the fighting men and our country is

Colin Kaepernick has the right to not stand for the anthem. Kaepernick had the audacity to not stand for the anthem! He has the right to not stand for the national anthem. Even though he has the right to sit for the anthem, because of free speech given to him in the constitution. Also, the National Football League (NFL) has no rule preventing the players from sitting for the national anthem. Even though, he has the right, to do what he did, it was tremendously disrespectful to the military and other people

People in America to say ,think and do what they believe. So why is it when a NFL superstar decides to sit down for the National Anthem the people consider this act to be a non- American act. “Colin Kaepernick, the backup quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, made headlines when he refused to stand for the National Anthem.” this was in an article by Kelly A. Scaletta. This has build up a lot of controversy, regarding if this was wrong or right.