August 26, 2016. Do you know what happened on this day? Many of you probably do not know the significance of this day. On this day, San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, refused to stand during "The Star-Spangled Banner." Mr. Kaepernick sat down behind his teammates, on the bench, while the National Anthem was playing. His actions sparked an outrage in the sports word and the regular world.
In my opinion, his actions were one of the most disgraceful activities of protest I have ever seen. This issue needs to be talked about and we need to find a way to try and prevent this type of dishonor to our great country. This issue interests me because I am an athlete and a citizen of the United States of America. Standing for the National should be a honor for everyone because they are showing support and respect for this country. Mr. Kaepernick sitting for "The Star-Spangled Banner"- are you kidding me? So many men and women have fought and died to protect your freedom. That red, white, and blue piece of fabric waving in the sky that you just disrespected is the reason you can live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Mr. Kaepernick is not only disrespecting our country and our flag, but also our veterans who sacrificed themselves and their lives, so anyone could have freedom and the ability to play football.
Furthermore, if I was put into a veterans shoes, I would feel disgraced because I spent months and sometimes years away from my family to protect
On September 21st, Christine Brennan reported Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand while the national anthem was being played in National Public Radio’s (NPR) online portal (www.npr.org). All through the National Football League 's preseason matches, Colin Kaepernick, a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, refused to stand for the national anthem. He clarified that he took this stance to point out what he sees as wrongdoings against African-Americans and different minorities, especially with regards to certain atrocities in police activities. Kaepernick has stated he is showing support for the Black Lives Matter movement, which was sparked by a number of police killing innocent black people. When addressed by journalists after the first occasion when he did not stand for the national anthem, Kaepernick stated that, “he would not show respect or pride in a flag for a country that continues to oppress African Americans and people of color.” He added that this was much bigger than any game and that it would be selfish on his part to look away. He also claims that there were bodies lying on the streets and people were getting away with murder. I don’t think Brennan understands why he chose not to stand fully. I think this also could have led to more attacks from other writers and reporters that have been inform of his true reasoning. I do not think he was disrespecting the flag or people that fight for it, but just making a stance to get
Colin Kaepernick states that his reasoning for kneeling during the national anthem was because he wasn’t going to stand up and show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. As I said before it’s not a slap in the face to the country
According to an article written by the online magazine ProCon, NFL quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, first refused to stand during "The Star-Spangled Banner" on Aug. 26, 2016 to protest racial injustice and police brutality in the United States. www.Procon.org
While I admire the work that many veterans have done, I don’t believe that I would be able to make the same sacrifices as they did. As a service to their country, they took it upon themselves to protect those unknown to them. They are a part of something greater than themselves in which they are essential to the outcome of the whole. All roles are of equal importance because without them all our rights would be unfound. There would be no freedom of speech or right to a fair trial. Our country would be without purpose if we
Colin Kaepernick, a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, has created much controversy in the nation over his latest protest. During a preseason football game Kaepernick was photographed sitting during the national anthem (McKirdy). When asked about the action later, Kaepernick explained, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” (Wyche). The nation exploded. Many showed their support for the quarterback, expressing pride in him for “standing up” for the things he believes in. Others displayed their anger with him for disrespecting the flag and all the things the flag represents. After seeing what a backlash his action received, Kaepernick decided to kneel instead of sitting, claiming that his new way of protesting would show more respect for those in the line of duty (Anthem uproar). Although he has the right to protest, sitting during the national anthem is the wrong way to draw attention to a specific cause.
In the article, “National Anthem Protests”, written by Steve Byas on The New American, on October 24, 2016, states that when the San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, decided to kneel during the national anthem that his protest wasn’t about the police brutality on blacks but to disrespect this country. Texas senator, Ted Cruz, states in the article that “it’s very easy when you’re sitting there, rolling in millions of dollars to disrespect this country” (13 Byas). Kaepernick and many other NFL players have stated that they are not disrespecting our flag but kneeling in protest to the police brutality on black people across the country. Although the players have said this, people beg to differ.
In this week’s article “The Anthem”, The author, Joe Ponanski, goes deeply into the background of the national anthem to show the importance of the Star Spangled Banner as it unites us as a country. The actions of athletes as they play the anthem have meaning. Inappropriate actions during the anthem can convey a kind of disrespectful demeanor toward the country and our troops, whether this is the intent of the athletes action or not. Colin Kaepernick was making a personal proclamation. He was drawing attention to a very serious predicament, racial discrimination in the US. After the game he explained “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,". Those who don’t agree with
One day in a NFL preseason game Colin Kaepernick decided to take a kneel during the National Anthem and it created a national controversy. Many respected people agree with what he did and I agree too he made a statement for what he believed in. Many athletes before him made these kinds of statements for a cause that they believed in.
It is true that they should not have done it during the national anthem but many people saw it so it was a good time too. The author, Tim Windel, states, “Many in the sports world supported Kaepernick and his rights to protest.” An important discussion about race, class and violence in this country was almost abandoned by the news media until Kaepernick took his stand. To explain, many people are saying this was the wrong time to protest. But many people were watching so millions of people around the world heard. In conclusion, Kaepernick did it at the right time because millions were
I do not support Kaepernick’s actions. I think if he does not want to stand for our National Anthem then he can go find another place to call home. Even if he is not white he is still playing football for our country. He should still stand to support our soldiers that are fighting in battle and the people that have died in war, and our fire fighters and others that severed or are severing.
Colin Kaepernick, a National Football League quarterback, kneeled during the playing of the National Anthem as others stood in the respect of the United States flag. American soldiers fight and die to defend our country and for citizens to be able to speak freely. Kaepernick was showing no respect for the ones who fight for him. Many NFL viewers lost respect for him as he tried to gain attention for the Black Lives Matter movement. He was trying to gain respect from viewers toward black people but in actuality not only was he directing our country he was disrespecting all citizens including black people. Why would an individual want to follow someone who’s reasons are misleading and advertised falsely? The article, “O’er the ramparts we watched
Personally I feel that Mr. Kaepernick is completely justified in his position because to this point in history I do believe that blacks have better opportunities than we've had in the past but I like many other feel we are far from the ultimate equality we all seek. An example of what Mr. Kaepernick was talking about is the shooting death of 32 year old Philando Castille. Castille is pulled over by Officer Jeronimo Yanez a police officer that pulled Castille over and shot him in the arm multiple times. Since the murder of Castille his murderer Officer Yanez and his partner were placed on administrative leave (Ortiz, 2016). This is just one of many cases in the last year that officers have used excessive force during a traffic stop. Could Kaepernick have taken a lesser stance than the one he took? Maybe or maybe you think he didn’t go far enough whatever your feelings evaluate what's the bigger issue at hand here? The issue of Kaepernick not acknowledging the flag may be serious, but maybe the bigger overall issue is that your fellow Americans are being attacked and as a public we care more about a man exercising his constitutional right to ignore a song that is anything except a song of
No, I absolutely do not support Kaepernick’s action. First things first, when we as Americans stand up while the national anthem plays it is a tribute to our country and the service men and women who gave their time and life for us. It is an act of respect for our country, the land of the free. This is one of the few ways we show respect to our country and troops, and for Kaepernick to disrespect that is sickening. Quite possibly, he didn’t understand what he was doing when he didn’t stand. Possibly he didn’t know that he was disrespecting our flag, country and service men. Kaepernick's argument was somewhat valid, but he handled it terribly. However, I will never take pity over him or his argument, because he disrespected the last thing
But he is also can stand up for what he wants to but at the game that might could have been in the wrong place. But there are other people like kaeprnick that dont stand for the flag even though that is not wrong its there belif is to kneel during the american flag then its there way but “USA soccer player Meagan Rapinoe kneels during anthem before sept.15 game against Thailand”. Artical of “ The PERILOUS FIGHT” written by Sean Greagory . But doing these kind of things
Kaeprnick says he did this because of the racism against the blacks going on right now with the cop shootings. I’m not saying that some cops are not targeting blacks but there are more respectful ways to make a stand. You should not disrespect the country. It also does not help when they have riots down south. If people keep making more of a mess with this subject it will never get better. If a cop targeted someone in my family and killed them I would be angry so I know where this is all coming from. Making a peaceful stand would make more of an impact than what’s going on now. They can’t let their feelings get the best of them.