National Anthem Protests Byas

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.

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

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.

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

The current debate over kneeling or sitting in protest during the national anthem to protest police brutality was ignited by Kaepernick in 2016, and later adopted by many other professional football players, high school athletes, and professional athletes in other sports, all who have refused to stand for the national anthem. These protests have created disagreement and sparked a public conversation race, police brutality, the flag and if the NFL is the best forum for to protest such issue. Colin Kaepernick has since said “he’s not protesting the flag but police brutality against African Americans. www.Procon.org

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

A big problem protesters like Colin Kaepernick and others are facing is that since they don’t participate in the National Anthem people think that they don’t like our country and are unpatriotic. For example Donald Trump and his aides took the situation into their own hands when calling out the protesters by saying, “protests are unpatriotic and disrespectful to the flag and those who have fought to protect the United States”(Tatum). After these comments players fire back by saying they’re exercising free speech by not participating in the National Anthem while standing with their hands over their hearts. Protesting is a

Firstly, a lot of people are talking about African American and Caucasian NFL players, or entire teams, kneeling or not even coming out onto the field during the national anthem. Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick first started the protest in 2016. He used to sit during the anthem. In “The #TakeAKnee protests have always been about race. Period.” post made on the CNN website, the author, AJ Willingham wrote, “…their jerseys used as doormats and bonfire fodder. They were called unpatriotic, ungrateful, and disrespectful of the flag, military, and country.” In this post, the author seemed to be against Donald Trump’s speech he made not too much long after.

I feel as “Protests? Not in College Football.” has a more objective tone compares to “Texas High School Coach Boots Football Players for Anthem Protest” because it was not influenced by personal choice but rather presented facts and were realistic on possible outcomes of this dilemma. We see this on multiple occasion first, they stated a trustworthy reason of why this matter of athletes specifically African American football players kneeling for the national anthem will ruin matters for not just the players but the companies too. He proceeded by saying that So why would college officials be reticent to change? Because boosters also have First Amendment rights, and many may be inclined to cut off their donations. This is very true because donors

The National Football League players who are kneeling for the national anthem are disrespecting our country and what it stands for. Our flag stands for freedom and liberty. The players should respect that. Before every NFL game, the flag is brought out by an Honor Guard. This is part of a time-honored ceremony intended to present our nation’s colors (the flag) and National Anthem in a respectful manner. By kneeling during the national anthem, they are disrespecting the flag, the national anthem, all our nation stands for, the people currently serving in the armed forces and all of those who gave their lives in our nation’s service. As a result of all the players or coaches kneeling, long time NFL fans are burning jerseys, cancelling season tickets, not showing up for games, not watching games, and canceling the NFL Sunday ticket and well they should.

Protesting the National Anthem is a form of exercising the first Amendment, but this form of protest is not always acceptable. There is a time and place for protests, but it is not on the football field where many of these horrifying protests are taking place. There are two definite reasons for not joining the ugly protests of the National Anthem. First, the protest could be seen by soldiers as disrespectful. Secondly, protesting the National Anthem indirectly teaches the American youth that it is ok to disrespect the country.

A famous sports figure in history once said, “I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag. I know that I am a black man in a white world” (McKirdy). At first glance, this quote seems to be something that would have been said by the San Francisco 49ers Quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, in light of his recent protests, as well as other sports players who decided to follow suit, to the playing of the national anthem before football games. However, this is not the case. The above quote was written in the 1972 autobiography, I Never Had it Made, written by Jackie Robinson, an African American Baseball player (McKirdy). Colin Kaepernick obviously felt the same as Jackie Robinson did when he sat on the bench rather than standing during a rendition of the national anthem before a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers on August 26. During an interview with the media following the game, Kaepernick explained why he refused to stand for the anthem, “‘I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder’” (Wyche). Kaepernick explains that he refused to stand for the national anthem because of the

A football player with the NFL, named Colin Kaepernick decided to stop standing for the national anthem as of means of protesting that the fact unarmed African Americans are killed by police in disproportionate number, usually without any repercussions for the officers who engaged in the killings. The fact that Colin Kaepernick protest is being a sign of disrespect, even though kneeling has long been considered a sign of respect, it has much more to do what he is protesting than how he is protesting.

Are National Anthem protests considered a form of peaceful protest? Every human being is born with fundamental rights, which means any person has the right to protest and being denied this right is unconstitutional. While National Anthem Protests are extremely evident in the current news, they did get there start from somewhere. One of the most well-known past events was in the 1968 Olympics.

The during the national anthem Colin Kaepernick stayed sitting down, but once he realized that not standing was disrespectful to the veterans and flag of our great nation, he knelt. His actions caused controversy and the attention of the nation, but I do not believe they were disrespectful. Though many people believe he only did it for attention, others know that he was taking a non-violent stand, or kneel, for African American rights.