Lonnie Bunch And Skorton's Athlete As Agent Of Change

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.

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.

Athletes have been protesting in ways which are frowned upon by the government. Athletes should use their fame to promote a political agenda because everybody has an opinion.In the article, “The athlete as agent of change,” by Lonnie Bunch and David Skorton, athletes use their fame to promote a political agenda. In this article, Bunch and Skorton list the ways that athletes silently protest in sports. Ways that listed include athletes turning their back on the flag, kneeling during the national anthem, and refusing to salute the flag. These actions show that the athlete may be opposing America and by doing this, their opinion is shown. Athletes’ opinions are very powerful because athletes are often mentors or inspirations to their fans which

Using popularity to protest is a way to get the society to talk about what isnt being talked about. Bring up the unspoken when it is needed to be talked about is a good thing so that everyone can figure out what we need to do and how to improve as a society. There is a lone tradition of athletes protesting certain situations that are going on in the world. Plenty of people use their popularity to get things to go their way. Also athletes have the rights as a citizen to protest as an individual.

Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. Nelson Mandela used sports and his movie Invictus to persuade and to depict the power of unity in a country (Edward). Nelson Mandela used the power of music and the power of movies to influence American culture.

There are some reasons as to why professional athletes shouldn’t be protesting because they’re popular. For example, the protests have been causing controversy among people. “While some have voiced their support of Kaepernick, the general public may have a different view.” This shows that not everyone is going to have the same opinion over a topic because the way someone will view things will be based on experiences in their life. In addition, there are other ways to make a difference that are not as harmful. Apparently, “both Kaepernick and the 49ers recently announced they will be donating to charities focusing on racial issues.” This shows that making a difference doesn’t always have to have people outraged because doing other helpful things like volunteering and going on mission trips manage to make a difference without angering people. Furthermore, sports are meant to be entertainment, and they’re taking that entertainment away. “Americans of all economic classes and

According to the Constitution, Americans have the right to free speech and to protest. Athletes and public figures are not excused just because they have fame. In fact, we should be looking to them to speak out against the negativity in society. A great amount of people are arguing that this act of protesting is disrespectful, not only to those who fought for our country, but they are choosing to ignore the message. Tony Cladwell from New York Times writes, “Every knee on the ground today represents thousands of Black men that are being treated unfairly, discriminated against, beaten, falsely accused, unfairly tried, unfairly sentenced, and murdered by police violence and the systemic abuses of the U.S justice system, not just historically, but also RIGHT NOW.” And he is absolutely right. People who are choosing to believe that it is an underhanded jab at America are wrong. There are few people who are a minority that are questioning what this cause

The controversial issue of protesting the National Anthem has plagued the United States since the year of 2016. Disputes have occurred over whether or not the athletes should be able to display their opinion to the public even if the demonstration offends our armed forces. Many say the protests are useless because the kneeling is diverting the public eye from the original issue; the “anti-protest” collection also agrees that the kneeling is not unconstitutional, and it should be restricted by the owners of the teams. Though all of the arguments can be assumed to be correct, one might could argue that these athletes were given this high platform so that they could be allowed to use their freedom of speech to express their views about inequality, injustice, police brutality, etc. and to show equality through the unification of their teams.

While discussing the success of the demonstrations in the Speak for Yourself radio show, Fox Sports sports commentator, Colin Cowherd explained “I believe this entire thing, has been successful. He protests, there is pushback. He is booed, he is cheered. Some players followed, lost their endorsements… people are discussing it. This embodies what we are about.” In the United States we are entitled to our own beliefs and our ability to have a voice. Through the actions of the players voicing their beliefs, the entire scenario has gained national attention. Colin Kaepernick’s among other athletes concern over this situation demonstrates their affection for this country in the hopes for improvement of this country. Through his protests the entire country has engaged in debate his actions and the topic he stands for.

Sporting events have always been an important fixture of society. In fact, sports are more like an extension of the reality in which we live. Referring to the modern Olympic games, Avery Brundage stated, “Sport, like music and other fine arts, transcends politics… We are concerned with sports, not business and politics.” Each historical time period is marked by cultural norms and these norms translate onto sports.

“If high profile athletes want to make a difference, there are better and more meaningful response than dissing than national anthem and turning a sporting event into a national soapbox” (Matthews & Wendell 4).

Professional athletes making political statements and sharing thoughts on their viewed social issues has been around since games were first being broadcasted and gave these athletes a stage to make a stand. Along with those actions entered debate for sports fans who are stuck between whether athletes should or should not share their views on things “bigger than sports”.This has been missing from professional sports in recent decades but is now slowly once again becoming relevant. The presidency of Donald Trump along with Colin Kaepernick’s taking a knee to protest the national anthem are the two main reasons for the

The other side of the protesting is totally different. In the same article under the topic, “Athletes Use Platform to Address Injustice,” Jackie Robinson, old baseball player, quotes, “I cannot stand and sing the anthem, I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a black man in a white world.” That quote

In the opinion article, “The Athlete as Agent of Change”, by Lonnie Bunch and David Skorton talks about how popular athletes use their fame to express political opinion. The article expresses the question, “Should athletes use their popularity to state their stance on political issues’’. I say that the athletes should use their fame express political opinion because they can give a voice to the people that want to share opinions to a large audience but can’t. So the athletes should take advantage of this opportunity to help the people who don’t have the power to get their message across. This situation goes with the phrase,’’With great power comes great responsibility’’. Which tells the athletes that they should use their great influence to

"Politics has come to be considered not only inappropriate in the arena of sports, but actually antithetical to it," Zirin says. "We want so much to see sports solely as an arena of play, not seriousness. But here's the thing, this can cheapen not only the greatness and relevance of sports to us as a society, but also the courage of the athletes" (The Nation). The pursuit of fame, wealth and status can blind the human conscious, which is why it is important for us to encourage athletes to speak their minds. As a nation, we should not silence the athletes, because it is the truly courageous athletes who have the audacity to stand up when it’s not popular. Sports should be used as a platform for a certain kind of politics: militarism,