Informative Essay: Patriots Pen Draft

It was upon these concepts of liberty, justice for all, and equality that became the foundation of America and its government. Many citizens claim that these ideals are still believed in and upheld today, yet the black NFL football players who kneeled during the national anthem at a game believe otherwise. According to Bretherton, the black players such as Kaepernick and Reid kneeled to “raise the question of why citizens of color, despite the promise of equality, still live (and die) as lesser Americans” (Bretheron 2). The players took a knee in order to raise awareness and bring attention to the discrimination colored citizens of America are facing today, such as police brutality. Although the players kneeled to invite the people of America to enter with them in a new, deeper kind of a relationship, where all are given mutual respect, the public misunderstood this act of courage as an act of disrespect and incivility towards America. These people, including President Trump, claim that the players are “disrespecting ‘our country, our flag [and] our national anthem” (Bretherton 1). The dilemma, thus, is that our

Kneeling during the national anthem is not just wrong it is also disrespectful to the multitudes in our country who have served or or presently serving this great nation-- the United States of America. The national anthem represents many things. One of them is the fortitude of our country’s flag. In the anthem it declares that the United States of America is “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” The flag represents the very core and essence of our nation as the only land on the continent that offers its citizens the freedoms it has at the price paid for ultimately by the brave. It is in no way oppressive nor racist. It is the theme song for every American. The intended audience of this paper is an appeal to all Americans. The quarterback of the 49ers football team, Colin Kaepernick, first began a protest to draw attention to a series of incidents against African Americans by remaining seated during the national anthem, “the Star Spangled Banner.” After the great stir Kaepernick caused in the media during September 2016, Kaepernick switched up his protest by taking a knee as a nod or gesture of showing more respect to current and former military after receiving an in-depth letter from Nate Boyer a former NFL player and US military veteran. Boyer served our country as a Green Beret. Over a decade ago, Boyer witnessed genocide while working in Sudan. He met numerous African men who were smitten with America and longed to have the

The "inspiration" for my topic came from our first assignment, the MTU Constitutional Essay Contest, and the NFL kneeling/National Anthem controversy. The extent of the public outcry and the divisiveness it has caused baffles. Kneeling during the playing of The National Anthem at widely viewed sporting events seems like a perfect and peaceful way to bring attention to a societal problem. It is freedom of symbolic speech at its finest. And it is nothing new. Americans have been engaging in symbolic political speech since before we even had a Constitution to protect it. Colonists threw tea in the Boston

One of the things that stand out in in Anthem is the little amount of freedoms they have. The society has been completely turned on its head every little thing they do in life is dictated and controlled down to who they can like. They aren't even allowed to be taller or different looking from their brothers. One of the freedoms missing that stands out to me is the freedom of speech. For people here in America, the freedom of speech is something we all take for granted and don't think about all that often. We know it's one of our rights and we know that some other countries don’t have it, but we don't tend to stop and think about what it would be like if we had that taken away. That is something that everyone needs to think about from time to time.

A present day crucible in today’s world that has been occurring more and more is kneeling to the national anthem and how people that kneel don’t like our country, are only focused on helping one group/race of people, and people are being kicked off teams because of them making protests.The Anthem protests started last year in August when Colin Kaepernick sat on the bench at an NFL game during the National Anthem. After the game reporters asked him why he sat and he said, “I am not going to stand up and show pride in a flag for a country that opposes black people and people of color” (Wyche ). Since this first incident it’s spread across all of the NFL, high school sports, NHL, women's professional soccer, and even in the MLB. This protest has even been caught in the eyes of the president and there is no sign of this protest slowing down.

Colin Kaepernick, a San Francisco 49er quarterback but also a daring black man that has decided to speak for the voices that can’t, has made his voice heard by kneeling during America’s beloved ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’. Jaweed Kaleem writes in the article “In the ‘land of the free,’ are you free to sit out the national anthem?” about the controversial topic in which he showcases the two sides of how it deems to be disrespectful to sit out the national anthem vs how Kaepernick has the freedom of expression to sit out what he believes does not benefit him.

The massive protest throughout the NFL is against the violence and injustice toward African-Americans in the United States. As a team the Seattle Seahawks stated that they, “‘Will not stand for the injustice that has plagued people of color in this country’” (May 1). The Star Spangled Banner is an important song for Americans because it shows the unity within the country; in fact, it is supposed to bring all citizens together no matter their differences. Standing for the Anthem shows respect for all the men and women in our military who have fought for the freedom and rights of American citizens. Nick Stefanovic is a Marine Corps veteran, and was deployed to Afghanistan twice. He is one of the military personnel who think Americans should be standing for the

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. … There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.” Colin Kaepernick

Argumentative Essay Josh Hitchcock English 6 Mrs. Tubergan and Mrs. Rhodes 18 December 2017 “ If they kneel they’re fired” says President Trump on NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem. Lately NFL players have been protesting a protest called “ black lives matter “ ( another recent protest ). They’ve done so by kneeling during the National Anthem for justice. All NFL players should stand for the National Anthem no matter what is going on in the world. We are all U.S. citizens and we must show appreciation for this country and other people have very strong feelings in both directions on this.

September 14, 1814, was the day a 35 year old lawyer penned a short poem overlooking Fort McHenry after a night of British bombardment. The man was Francis Scott Key and his poem or song is now known as “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Now over 200 years later, a majority of the American population sees this song as a symbol of American liberty and freedom. However, not all agree. Recently, NFL players have begun to kneel, as a means of protest, during the national anthem played before every game. Consequently, this has caused people like Matt Server to speak out and voice their opinions. In “COUNTERPOINT: Kneeling during the national anthem is the wrong way to protest,” Server communicates to his audience that kneeling during the national anthem is the wrong thing to do. Server’s claim is accurate because of the American perception of the national anthem and the ineffectivity of the protests.

American football is one of the most popular games played and followed in United States. Many believe it to be No. 1 sport in North America and take it as religion than sports. It is dream of majority of youngster to pursue their careers in American football, as it is source of wealth and glory. To attain a successful career one has to play this game before he is 14. He has to be part of High School League, College League, and eventually National Football League (NFL).

I believe that athletes have the right and should take a knee during the national anthem if they what is going in the country is wrong and unjustified. In my essay will back up my point with looking at the reasoning for how this protest began and what it is exactly protesting. I will also go over the backlash the athletes receive for their peaceful protest and why they have the right to do so. Then we will see how the president reacted to the protest compared the other incidents that are going on in America.

In addition, athletes in the past have been a positive role model for athletes and young people, today. Just like President Barack Obama recently said about Tommie Smith and John Carlos holding black fists up during the award ceremony, “What Tommie Smith and John Carlos did may have been controversial at the time, but it created opportunity for future generations.” This means that the athletes, in the past, that spoke out against their disbeliefs, set an example for present athletes, and how to get their point across, but at the same time being a role model for young people. Furthermore, since athletes are already on a bigger stage, when they speak out, they are allowing us, as a nation, to see our flaws, so we can unite together and change it. When Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem, it was part of the Black Lives Matter movement, and it helped our nation come together to find a solution. By doing this, our

The author, Sean Gregory, in “The Perilous Fight,” talks about the political issue that has been going on for the past year, the issue started when a professional football player from the San Francisco 49ers team, also known as  Colin Kaepernick, kneeled down when the National anthem for the United States of America was played at the beginning of a game. Kaepernick’s justification for this, was that this was his way of protesting unfair treatment of individuals because of racial characteristics. Since racism, discrimination, and gender inequalities have been going on for centuries, I agree on the matter of sports players being able to  kneel down when the anthem, “Star spangled Banner,” is being played because these people are trying to stand up for what they believe is right, and they should be allowed to protest because it is serving as a peaceful way to protest for people who are being unjustly treated. Racism and discrimination often leads to these individuals who are suffering to be judged, killed, and many other harsh things that should not be taking place in the “land of the free.” We as Americans are given so many great things, and people think about the United States they usually think of  freedom, pursuit of happiness, and the rights of being a U.S. citizen, but how can we exercise those given rights properly, when t the government does not let us by putting limitations and restrictions on how we use our rights?  When it's

As time passes, the American values and beliefs change to coincide with many of the thoughts around the world. However, many see the change in ideas as a threat to their standards of life. Throughout the years, standing for the national anthem and the raising of the flag has been a common respect that Americans pay to the flag. On the contrary, in the recent past many have started to kneel before the flag to speak out against racial injustices in our country. Although society has rebuked the practitioners of these aforementioned actions, the nonconformists have the right to exercise their freedom of speech. Brian Adams Jones, a former US marine, stated that, “If the flag symbolizes freedom of expression, Kaepernick was absolutely correct