Oppression Of Color In Professional Sports

Sports, particularly football, has became a political debate in September. The author of the article, CNN Sophie Tatum, called “Athletes, activists spar on kneeling National Anthem protests”. She explained that President Donald Trump began to criticize players on his twitter account who would kneel during the national anthem to protest against police brutality. Sophie Tatum writes that Trump and his aides are arguing that the protests are unpatriotic and disrespectful to the flag. Trump also adds that it is disrespectful to the people who fought to protect our country. Although players argue that they are just exercising free speech. In the beginning of the article Sophie Tatum adds an interview, Spike Lee, who is speaking out for the players who take a knee. He defends the players that they are simply protesting against law enforcement and want to be heard on the issues at hand. Reading the title of the article before I read the rest and

Football players in the NFL are kneeling during the playing of the National Anthem to protest racial discrimination and police brutality; this can be stopped by reducing the football player’s pay, make kneeling during the National Anthem illegal, or try to end racial discrimination and police brutality in America. This protest was started by a quarterback from the San Francisco 49ers named Colin Kaepernick who said that he refused to honor a song or “show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” (McLaughlin and Simon) Even though this is a peaceful protest, it is still unjust and very disrespectful. Not only is it disrespectful to the American Flag, it is highly disrespectful to the American troops that fought for this country.

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.

Many National Football League players started kneeling during the National Anthem to protest the injustices against African Americans, police brutality, respect, unity, and equal opportunity. They are protesting with untrue statements, such as police brutality. In 2016, 233 African Americans were shot by police, but the vast majority were armed and dangerous. Only 16 African American male victims of police shootings were unarmed. In 2015, a police officer was 18.5 times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male was to be killed by a police officer. Many African American National Football League players believe they are being treated unequally. Kneeling during the National Anthem is disrespectful to the flag, the soldiers, and the people of the United States.

The NFL protests started back in 2016 with Colin Kaepernick. He quietly started sitting during the anthem, and eventually kneeling, to protest police brutality. He said that “he would not stand to show pride for a flag that oppresses black people.” Other players soon joined the movement, and fans criticized them because they said that they were disrespecting the United States. The protests really blew up this year after President Donald Trump said that NFL players that are kneeling should be fired, and he even called them “sons of b*****s.” After this, many NFL players and teams started to kneel and lock arms during the National Anthem, and some even stayed in their locker rooms during the National Anthem. Protests have continued for weeks, and this has divided fans. Many fans support the players’ decisions, but many also do not support them, and have threatened to boycott the NFL. This led to Roger Goodell, the League Commissioner, to send a letter to all the NFL teams asking them to stand for the National Anthem.

The controversy involving the NFL teams, their players kneeling, turning around, locking arms etc has caused many to debate on this topic. The national anthem is performed out of pride of the country and to pay our respects to the people that have fought, risked and sometimes lost their lives for the United States. Players not just from the National Football League but sports across the country have been protesting this because of racial injustice which has caused backlash from many people including President Trump. Keeping in mind that it is the player's right to express their first amendment by kneeling during the national anthem I and many other people believe this is wrong because they are doing it for all the wrong reasons, yes there is

NFL players across the league have launched a new protest to take a stand against police brutality against unarmed African Americans. This protest takes place during the national anthem of the United States of America when players take a knee rather than standing at attention with hand over heart. Colin Kaepernick started this movement in 2016 when he felt that he did not want to honor a country that allows such violence on minorities. While police brutality is a serious problem in America, taking a knee during the national anthem is not the proper way to protest this issue. This protest is a disrespectful and a waste of effort protesting at the wrong times and offending countless people.

To begin, many NFl players are trying to bring awareness to the public with their actions during the national anthem. Some of these actions are taking a knee, locking arms, or raising a fist. Their reason for these actions is because of recent news reports regarding the issue of police officers killing unarmed African

In the NFL and other American sports there is a growing problem. Many players are kneeling during the playing of our National Anthem. These players actions has caused players in others sports like Baseball and Hockey to protest. These events has caused many people to express their opinions on the subject whether agreeing or criticizing.

Every country has a history of protesting to prove a point. The United States is notorious for gaining their rights throughout history by causing awareness in the political society with protesting. Currently some representatives and players of the NFL have been practicing their rights to raise awareness by protesting the National Anthem in order to create a movement for racial equality. Some can say that these players have taken the proper steps and are proceeding as needed to be, while others say that it is improper and disrespectful. Every player or representative deserves the right to protest and be heard as an American Citizen, however the way that some players and reps. have been acting recently has become upsetting due to the inconsideration of the country as a whole, by their actions.

The last couple class days we had, we went over racism. I am very familiar with racism, but hearing the lectures in class made me think deep about racism. The comments, questions, and all the concerns left me wondering how people get by everyday teaching people that racism is okay. Hearing that being a Caucasian and being racist is considered bad, but if you are a Caucasian that is racist that has friends that are colored then you are looked at is good just kills me. There is nothing good about being racist no matter what you classify yourself as.

In today’s news there is a debate over NFL teams kneeling and some say it is disrespecting this nations flag. It didn’t start with Colin Kaepernick taking a knee, to bring to the forefront the inequalities that still exist in America. There have been many other athlete’s that have in one way or another protested the injustice that have gone on unspoken for decades. Going back to 1968 during the Olympic when two athletic gold and silver medal winners protests the injustice in America. They at the risk of being stripped of their medals and bared from further participating in the Olympic games, they did it anyway. Then as now the protest isn’t against

Are Americans going about protesting their beliefs in the correct way? Standing during the National Anthem has been a way Americans show respect for their country since the 1800’s, therefore not standing is nothing short of disrespectful. Last year, former pro quarterback Colin Kaepernick started kneeling during the National Anthem because he believed standing was ‘social and racial injustice’ and players today have followed his actions. After a statement from President Trump on Sunday, September 24th, there has been nothing but more chaos and protests throughout our Nation’s professional football teams. All American citizens should know and understand that protesting is perfectly acceptable but protesting and disrespecting something that is completely irrelevant is not, there is nothing anyone can do about who the elected President is and you can’t take everything Donald Trump says seriously, but regardless of the situation, it is never acceptable Kneel during our National Anthem.

During the pre-season of the 2016 National Football League season, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat for the National Anthem to protest racial injustice within the United States. When asked why he sat, he stated, “I’ve been very clear from the beginning that I’m against the systematic oppression” of black Americans (Willingham). The quarterback received some negative reaction to his method of protest and, after three games, met with former NFL player and Army veteran Nate Boyer to discuss his protest. During this meeting, Kaepernick agreed with Boyer and decided kneeling during the anthem was a more respectful form of protest (Willingham). Since that time, many NFL players joined Kaepernick in his protest and continue to kneel during the playing of the anthem. Through this silent, non-violent protest, many uncomfortable questions are now at the forefront of American cultural discussion. To date, Kaepernick alone has paid a price for the protest actions as currently he is not playing in the NFL since no team would dare sign such a controversial player. In addition, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, recently jumped into the debate during a speech calling any player who kneels a “son of a bitch” and stating they should lose their jobs (Jenkins). The President also inferred the protests are disrespectful to the American flag and to the members of the United States’ military. This background on the NFL protests raises several questions

This Sunday more than one hundred players from thirteen teams in the National Football League took a knee during “The National Anthem”. Football players apart of this movement promote awareness for police brutality and for the multitude of biased killings of African Americans. This protest has gained the attention of the nation and has brought awareness to millions by using the most peaceful and legal way to express one’s beliefs with one simple act; taking a knee.