Persuasive Essay On Police Brutality

In the Atlantic article “They Took A Knee,” author Megan Garber describes the recent outbreak in NFL players and coaches, who have participated in the protest against social oppression, by kneeling during the national anthem. The article describes how there an been an extensive increase in the protests of NFL athletes “after President Trump’s harsh condemnations towards them, for kneeling during the national anthem”. As stated in the article, NFL protests began in 2016, when NFL player Colin Kaepernick “knelt during the pre-game singing of the national anthem...to protest racial oppression against African Americans.” This action has now been replicated by NFL athletes all over the country standing up for equality

The protesting during the national anthem at National Football League games has become a very large topic in the current news. Kneeling has received a fair amount of negative feedback. Although protesting is not a publicly adored action, it continues on. It continues on because the player's believe in persistence, integrity and the ability to stand for their beliefs even when it is hard. By protesting the National Anthem before competitions, the NFL players are creating an atmosphere in which they are able to bring out and address issues with racial tension.

Many people especially media pundits chastised Colin Kaepernick after refusing to honor the national anthem. The incident raised discussions about class, races, and violence in the country. Surprisingly enough, other athletes supported Kaepernick for his actions however they continued to stand for the national anthem claiming it as his democratic right since he is a citizen of the country. World’s best sportsmen have led by example, for instance, tommie smith and John Carlos in their black power salutes stood against Vietnam war.

Did you know, in America today, there are 14,000 recorded incidents involving police brutality to this day. That’s a large number. Day after day, police brutality incidents are increasing, but is constantly left unnoticed. Although police brutality protest makes major headlines from time to time, let’s be honest, no one watches the news. So how exactly are Americans supposed to get the message across? How are they supposed to educate the people? How are they supposed to make it known? Well, the sports leagues have set the bait, and everyone else is eating it. To kneel during the playing of the National Anthem is an effective and intuitive way of informing the public of societal problems that exist in everyday society.

On February 26, 2012, 17-year-old African American Trayvon Martin was shot and killed. Over the next few years, the media would cover his death, the deaths of Eric Garner, Sandra Bland and countless other African Americans who have died because of police brutality. To protest this and the need for reform in the criminal justice system, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began taking a knee during the national anthem of NFL football games. Since then, other players have followed suit. On September 22, 2017, while at a rally in Huntsville, Alabama, President Trump stated to a crowd of supporters “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, “Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He’s fired. He’s fired!” and later continued his rant on twitter tweeting “If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL, or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect … our Great American Flag (or Country) and should stand for the National Anthem …”. I disagree with President Trump’s argument that NFL players are showing disrespect to our country because they’re protesting to bring awareness to police brutality, protests are protected under the first amendment, and this is a display of what the US flag represents.

Police brutality, the killings of Alton Sterling, Philando Castille, and many other innocent and unarmed black people are all examples of racial injustice within our own country. Racial injustice has become a very large issue and too many people are dying for reasons unknown. National Football League players are correctly utilizing their right to peacefully protest by taking a knee during the National Anthem. There are people in the world who do not have a large enough audience to effectively speak on the issue with numerous people noticing. The players are using their unique stage to give people a voice who do not have one.

Throughout its existence, injustice has continually plagued the United States throughout its existence. A major factor for these societal problems are the inequalities between people from different backgrounds, which impact the correlation between people in this country. There has been many groups who have called out these injustices and brought them to light. For the most part, the problems that these groups have protested in the past continue to be issues in present day. Today's racial equality groups such as “Black Lives Matter” which protests racial discrimination against African Americans along with police brutality have exposed these injustices so that the public is kept aware of this nation’s problems. Very recently, a movement has risen in popularity originally involving the same issues as the racial discrimination group. Some players in the NFL have been taking a knee during the national anthem to signify that they do not support the current inequalities in the United States. This has sparked great controversy over whether the players should be allowed to protest, or if it is even acceptable for them to protest during a time of respectfulness towards their nation. Conflicting views of this action of protest raise the question of if people should be able to express certain personal rights based on defiant social factors today.

This is not the first time professional athletes have protested racial injustices in front of the entire nation to see. During the 1968 Olympics runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos held a fist in the air while wearing beads and cloth for shoes to protest the lynching and poverty of African-Americans. And in 1996, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, a point guard in the NBA, was suspended a game for sitting during the National Anthem. His reason for sitting was that it was against his religion. He was scrutinized for this and after his contract was up he never played in the NBA again, and this was during the prime of his career. During the

Kneeling during the National Anthem: Over the past several months, athletes have kneeled during the playing of the National Anthem at sporting events. These athletes are doing this to protest social injustices, specifically those involving police brutality and African-Americans. After the president, “denounced protests by NFL players and rescinded a White House invitation for NBA champion Stephen Curry in a two-day rant that targeted top professional athletes,” more athletes began to protest (“First MLB Player to Kneel”). On Saturday, Bruce Maxwell, a bi-racial player for the Oakland A’s, became the first MLB player to kneel. Following the protest, Maxwell became the target of racial slurs. Many people believed he was disrespecting the military and the flag by doing this. Maxwell shared that he had many family members in the military and this had nothing to do with disrespecting them or any other service members. His decision to do this was fueled by his own experiences with racism growing up. He went on to say that the protest had everything to do with demanding equality for everyone regardless of race or gender. The organization released a statement saying they respect his decision and he also received support from his fellow white teammates. The simple act of kneeling has created a much needed dialogue across the nation and given a voice to people who don’t have one.

In today’s society it seems as if every citizen tend to be honest and opinionated. They like to stand for what they believe in. It’s America people are given the freedom and right to do that. Though, most recently, certain people have decided to express their opinions, whether it’s the people that are protesting or the ones that are against it. Particularly the topic of race, athletes of the NFL have took it upon themselves to either sit, kneel, or lock arms during the national anthem in hopes of bringing a positive change. Furthermore, that is the point of doing this action, is try to bring a solution and to produce a positive change, some people say that there is no need to do so or that isn’t the right way, time, or place, to protest; however this protest being a peaceful way of protest and having a higher voice being an athlete, his reasoning and the way he does the protest makes it effective, especially since there are racial issues and police brutalities, with both sides making stating their reason as to why it’s right or why it’s wrong, Colin Kaepernick’s protest has been labeled as controversial.

When it comes to minorities, the United States has been through a lot. Situations that essentially divide the country. Some of these situations include slavery, segregation, fighting for equal rights, and even now in the twenty-first century we’re divine based on whether we should kneel or stand. All across the nation there are conversations surrounding the protesting of police brutality specially against black citizens that typically ends up in severe brutality or in most cases murder. As of October 13, 977 innocent minorities were murdered due to police brutality. Some call into question whether or not this protest is strictly about the protest of police behavior or if it’s a blatant disrespect towards our country as a whole.

Imagine a town without police officers? This south park episode was based on a police officer shooting a kindergartener by accident during a “code red” call. The episode went on and showed how south park community decided to take matters to their own hands and chose to be a city without police force and the problems they faced for making that decision.

Over the past year, many athletes playing american football have been kneeling during the performance of the national anthem during publicly broadcasted games. Players from the National Football League as well as players from high schools across the country took part in this disrespectful kneel to protest racial inequality. But with kneeling, came big controversy. There were an innumerable amount of alternative ways to protest, but many athletes unfortunately chose to kneel to show their protest. Supporters of the act continued to disgrace the nation, while opposers started to publicly vilify the act. Although some may say it is the freedom of the individual to kneel during the anthem, it should be a punishable act because it disrespects the flag of the nation, it clearly exhibits a form of disregardment towards a player's coach, and in some cases, it can possibly breach the signed contract of an athlete with their association.

Racial injustice has been a very large part of the past 200 years in America. There have been many incidents recently where unarmed black men are being killed by police. Police brutality has become an issue in the inner cities of America and has been coming to the media more recently. The football players want to speak for those who don’t have a large voice. They’re trying to help reduce the amount of racism in this country by bringing awareness. African Americans have had to deal with racism in this country for a long time. After the Civil Rights Act of 1964, African Americans in this country knew they still had to keep fighting. After the Civil Rights act in the 1960s African Americans still were discriminated against in almost every aspect of society. Many were unable to get a job because many businesses would not hire them because of

Minorities are more likely to experience police brutality such as being pulled over by the cops without reason, being roughly patted down, grabbed, handcuffed, struck with a baton or pressed up against a wall than whites are, a new study by Roland Fryer, a professor of economics at Harvard University, has found. Most Americans were not speaking about police brutality or trying to fix it until Kaepernick and many other began to protest. Many other athletes have since refused to stand for the national anthem for similar reasons. “Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall, who also has knelt during the national anthem, said, "the message is I'm against social injustice... I'm not against the military or police or America at all,”(“Refusing to Stand for the National Anthem: Top 3 Pros and Cons). This shows that the social injustice happening in America is a reason to not force citizens of America to stand. Citizens should not be forced to stand, this would be like muzzling their voice and preventing to protest against the injustice facing America.