First Amendment Pros And Cons

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.

It was upon these concepts of liberty, justice for all, and equality that became the foundation of America and its government. Many citizens claim that these ideals are still believed in and upheld today, yet the black NFL football players who kneeled during the national anthem at a game believe otherwise. According to Bretherton, the black players such as Kaepernick and Reid kneeled to “raise the question of why citizens of color, despite the promise of equality, still live (and die) as lesser Americans” (Bretheron 2). The players took a knee in order to raise awareness and bring attention to the discrimination colored citizens of America are facing today, such as police brutality. Although the players kneeled to invite the people of America to enter with them in a new, deeper kind of a relationship, where all are given mutual respect, the public misunderstood this act of courage as an act of disrespect and incivility towards America. These people, including President Trump, claim that the players are “disrespecting ‘our country, our flag [and] our national anthem” (Bretherton 1). The dilemma, thus, is that our

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.

“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech.” (Jacobus 93). Just like the Freedom of Religion there are limitations placed on the Freedom of Speech so that other people’s rights aren’t compromised. For example, people are not allowed to present true threats, or “fighting words” to another person. This restriction was put into play in the court case of Chaplinsky vs. New Hampshire. The Court ruled that “fighting words, by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace and may be punished consistent with the First Amendment.” (Ruane 3-4). In this case if someone was to use “fighting words” which is their perceived freedom of speech, it would not only violate the law, it could violate someone’s freedom of pursue life, liberty, and happiness. With this, we can see that freedom is not always as it

In 2017 alone, there have been multiple riots born of originally peaceful protests. Students in Middlebury College in Vermont revolted at a peaceful debate with far-right Charles Murray. While Murray tried to reach his building, a mob formed, forcing him and his debate-partner, Allison Stanger, to move to another building (Beinhart np). When Murray and Stanger tried to leave, they and the car they were in were attacked by students. The leftist Stanger was sent to the emergency room because she tried to protect the guest (Fatzick np). In Berkeley, California, students were up in arms, wanting to prevent Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking. Their haste to silence a man they disagreed with led to a huge disaster. In the streets, fellow classmates were attacked. One student who supported President Trump was brutally beaten, and an innocent bystander who claimed to be Muslim was assaulted for “looking like a Nazi” (Ramaiyer np). Others were beset upon as well, with pepper-spray, matches, and baseball bats. In total, only one person was arrested (French np). Unless this one person attacked this many people and businesses, it’s safe to assume that dozens of perpetrators have gone unpunished for the crime of hurting a human being! This ‘free speech’ is not protected under the First Amendment. People are hurting other people. Another time Mr. Yiannopoulos attempted to give a speech, protesters rudely barged into the lecture

The first amendment, the right of freedom of speech is one of the most important classic fantasy to almost anyone living in the United States, building the foundation of our nation. This right gives us plenty of different opportunities to express our opinions and political viewpoints on any issues in America. But it comes with a price, people have been protesting multiple different events trying to prevent people from expressing opposing opinions or political viewpoints on that has issues in America. For the minority of people, expressing a different opinion should be protected no matter how controversial or insensitive it may be.

Many players and their coaches have been protesting police brutality by ‘taking-a-knee’ during the Pledge of Allegiance. The media has been sharing and it has now become a bigger deal since the president has addressed it by saying "Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a b---h off the field right now. Out. He's fired. He's fired!" This riled up many Trump supports, secially when later on he tweeted that it had nothing to do with race and that it was about respecting the country. This leads many people to believe that the NFL players are just disrespecting their country. The stereotype about African Americans, that they are often disrespectful, is also being used to ‘justify’ what a lot of the media has to say. But, the real reason many NFL players are protesting is because they think that they shouldn't have to stand if they don't have pride for their country, and they have the right to do so, according to their first amendment. They don't lose the right to protest when they go on the field like some of the media thinks so. Many people, often white believe they live in a just- world because they have never had to deal with the racism many African Americans are dealing with so they do not think it is a big deal and that they are protesting to be disrespectful. The illusory correlation can also

Colin Kaepernick, a San Francisco 49er quarterback but also a daring black man that has decided to speak for the voices that can’t, has made his voice heard by kneeling during America’s beloved ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’. Jaweed Kaleem writes in the article “In the ‘land of the free,’ are you free to sit out the national anthem?” about the controversial topic in which he showcases the two sides of how it deems to be disrespectful to sit out the national anthem vs how Kaepernick has the freedom of expression to sit out what he believes does not benefit him.

Over the last few years police brutality and social injustice have been very prevalent in the media. In 2016, a protest for social injustice and police brutality directed towards African Americans was started by NFL player Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick began to kneel during the national anthem to bring attention to social issues. Since then Kaepernick has received praise from the black community and even more backlash, including from the president. Other NFL players began to support Kaepernick and kneel along with him. Kaepernick was later fired for his actions. I am going to discuss whether or not NFL players should be allowed to kneel during the national anthem while they are playing.

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

In the news the NFL, Donald Trump, and the veterans are at crossroads with the American anthem and what it stands for. The NFL players decide to take a knee during the National Anthem which caused a big uproar across the United States. Our president has spoken out about the issue and made a harsh opinion on what the coaches should do with the players. Others such as, the police or men and women who were overseas protecting the United States find it disrespectful that NFL players taking a knee. Within the amendments, the first amendment is being used by the NFL players. The NFL players are using their rights to speak out against the National Anthem,

To begin, the very first amendment to the United States Constitution grants citizens with the freedom of speech. The freedom of speech is generally the right to express your own opinion without restrictions. This typically includes the right not to speak if you do not want to, the right to advertise goods, products, and services, and even the right to use certain derogatory words and/or phrases to transfer political beliefs. However, citizens often get confused about what is actually granted within the right and what is not. For example, if you are in a public place with a good

This is not a solid argument because the National Anthem is played in honor of our nation and the freedom of a diplomatic government; a player feels that his government is not holding up to its purpose then he has the right to not stand and honor it. It seems that the news only reports the problem of the racial discrimination and police brutality with no solution to fix these issues. Consequently, the players are using the same news to air their protest in which sheds light on thousands or millions of viewers about the problems in America for quite some time. Even Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints disagrees with the delivery of the message by stating, “It’s an oxymoron that you’re sitting down, disrespecting the flag that has given you the freedom to speak out” (Refusing 3). However, Drew Brees supports Kaepernick’s statement that he was protesting against the racial injustice. As stated by Colin Kaepernick, “I’m 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” (Refusing 2). This is a great point that the flag provides them freedom, but what is the point of having the ability to protest if they do not use it.

“All men are created equal ”, said Thomas Jefferson. Many teams and athletes from the NFL have followed Colin Kaepernick’s footsteps by peacefully protesting during the national anthem to show that justice is not being served. Leading to a variety of different opinions and views.

Now starting the new NFL 2017-18 season more players started their own way of protesting by either raising their fists’ or locking arms during the anthem. Recently President Trump made some controversial remarks regarding players kneeling. President Trump told NFL owners about how players should stand during the Anthem as a sign of respect and that NFL owners should fire players who protest. Trump said he wished owners’ would tell players who kneel to “Get That Son Of A B**** Off The Field” ! The following Sunday NFL Owners and Players’ responded very strongly by locking arms and taking a kneel showing The President this is about equity and equality not “disrespecting our country”