Knee Protests

Although NFL athletes are a huge figure in America today, they still choose to disrespect their country by kneeling during the National Anthem. I believe kneeling during the National Anthem is unpatriotic, separate’s teammates and the community, and is also bad publicity. This has caused people to protest the NFL by doing things such as burning their season tickets. Kneeling during the anthem has caused a huge controversial issue that is impacting many. This has not only caught the attention of adults but also children. The NFL is now losing its focus on football and putting more focus on politics.

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.

One reason why players are Kneeling during the national anthem is to speak out about racism and Police Brutality. Another reason is that the NFL is a big platform and a lot of people watch it so lots of people will see them protesting. Kneeling Players from the NFL have been interviewed on why they kneel, and they say we are not trying

NFL players are kneeling during the national anthem. The protest that has been ongoing since last season is finally getting some attention albeit mostly negative. Since mentioned by Trump there are many sides to this story, people are saying it’s disrespectful to kneel in protest while others are joining the protest themselves. John Legend, the author of “The NFL Protests Are Patriotic,” would take a knee if he had the chance. Legend believes that the protests are just another stepping stone to creating equity to minorities living in America. Legend gives a logical argument by providing historical protests that spurred changes in favor for civil rights and applies it to the current protest happening today. Overall his argument is well put together but is hindered by how Legend speaks of Trump in his introduction paragraph. This protest is sparking outrage throughout the nation because of how the peaceful protest is occurring and forgetting the importance of the protest itself.

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

Ever since September of last year, the NFL National Anthem Protest has been one of the most controversial topics across social-media, alongside with other protests against police brutality. Many have criticized for such an action for being disrespectful to the National Anthem and Flag. Those, who have supported it, claim to protest against the nationwide police brutalities against the Black people. Looking back to the history of the United States, such sports protests are not a unique incident. During 1968 Olympic game, which are hold in Mexico City, African American Athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their black-gloved fists to speak for black civil rights. Yet, back then both the U.S. government and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) did not show support for such an action, though today the IOC claimed that the black American athletes has made names for themselves for doing such protests.

“The protests during the national anthem started last season when former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the Star-Spangled Banner. Very few players protested the national anthem in Week 10 of the NFL season after the NFL Players Association asked all players to observe a two-minute moment of silence to honor veterans before Veterans Day.” First Paragraph.

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.

This protest started in August of 2016 by an NFL football player named Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid. They both played for the San Francisco 49ers and protested by kneeling during the National Anthem. Everyone present was confused and shocked at why he is doing it. No one ever expected someone out of the blue to begin kneeling during the few moments of unity and paying respects for others. Colin Kaepernick was soon interviewed after the

Taking a knee during the National Anthem began 13 months ago with Colin Kaepernick. He started to protest just by sitting on the bench, then when he was asked why he is doing this he responded saying that he is doing this to show more respect for the military veterans. However, a few months later when Kaepernick’s protest became more known to society he said “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag or country that oppresses black people, and to

He later transitioned to taking a knee in protest to show more respect for military veterans. The iconic pose turned out to mean much more. Other players of the NFL joined in with Kaepernick and the movement was born.

Kaepernick’s stunt has managed to influence other people to kneel during the National Anthem as well. Influential enough to become a trending topic even among the people in the White House. The main reason people kneeled according to Steve Wyche, an NFL Media Reporter, was “wrongdoings against African Americans and minorities in the United States”. African Americans were subject to many unjust cruelties such as the Jim Crow laws, lynching, and discrimination. It all started in the 1600s, when the government managed to implement a special racial feeling that would later grow into the legal term racism. The government used that to turn the poor whites and blacks against each other. Before this, the poor whites and blacks lived in peace because

In the United States, there are constant protests occurring throughout towns, cities, and states, over the injustice unfolding across the nation, whether it’s regarding the Black Lives Matter Movement, equality for African Americans, or the ‘Take A Knee’ protest. These individuals protesting refuse to back down from what they believe in, and are fighting for “one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” One main conflict that is encountered every Thursday, Sunday, and Monday, is the ‘Take A Knee’ protest that involves professional football players taking a knee during the National Anthem. Why are football players taking a knee during a time where all should be standing and respecting the National flag and anthem?

Today, athletes are kneeling while the national anthem is being played, the reasoning for this is they are protesting against police brutality and social injustice. The protest started when Colin Kaepernick first kneeled during the playing of the national anthem at a football game last year. Since then the nation has been debating whether this is disrespectful to the country or not. Colin Kaepernick never meant to disrespect America; in fact, he said “I love America. I love people. That’s why I’m doing this. I want to help make America better. I think having these conversations helps everybody have a better understanding of where everybody is coming from.” (Kaepernick). Many people will disagree with Kaepernick including soldiers, but a few

The action has been started from 2016 till now. Kaepernick is the first one who do this action. He has been sitting while other stood and sang the nation anthem at the preseason of 2016 NFL season. The purpose of this action is to against the racism and the police brutality. However, some people think this action shows disrespect for U.S, the military, the police. In September 2017, Donald Trump said that they should fire protesting players but it just made the protest broader. The game day after the speech of Donald Trump, more than 200 players sat during the anthem, some even stayed in the locker