Racial Speech

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.

NFL players are kneeling during the national anthem. The protest that has been ongoing since last season is finally getting some attention albeit mostly negative. Since mentioned by Trump there are many sides to this story, people are saying it’s disrespectful to kneel in protest while others are joining the protest themselves. John Legend, the author of “The NFL Protests Are Patriotic,” would take a knee if he had the chance. Legend believes that the protests are just another stepping stone to creating equity to minorities living in America. Legend gives a logical argument by providing historical protests that spurred changes in favor for civil rights and applies it to the current protest happening today. Overall his argument is well put together but is hindered by how Legend speaks of Trump in his introduction paragraph. This protest is sparking outrage throughout the nation because of how the peaceful protest is occurring and forgetting the importance of the protest itself.

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

Racial inequality will always be a huge topic in the United States of America, and continues today to still be a huge topic. With the NFL players raising awareness by kneeling and locking arms together during the national anthem, the topic of racial inequality has gained more interest. After Kaepernick in 2016 first kneeled many other athletes and stars joined the movement to talk about the problems of racial inequality. People like Ellen DeGeneres, Zendaya, George Lopez, and many others voice their support for the players (JustJared). This new NFL season has caused more controversy with a new president that is invoking many people, Trump took a shot at the players protesting stating “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners,

A present day crucible in today’s world that has been occurring more and more is kneeling to the national anthem and how people that kneel don’t like our country, are only focused on helping one group/race of people, and people are being kicked off teams because of them making protests.The Anthem protests started last year in August when Colin Kaepernick sat on the bench at an NFL game during the National Anthem. After the game reporters asked him why he sat and he said, “I am not going to stand up and show pride in a flag for a country that opposes black people and people of color” (Wyche ). Since this first incident it’s spread across all of the NFL, high school sports, NHL, women's professional soccer, and even in the MLB. This protest has even been caught in the eyes of the president and there is no sign of this protest slowing down.

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

It’s almost as if nothing has changed in almost a hundred years’ time It is 2018 and instead of peace and unity between different races in America rising, instead police brutality has risen and also been a problem in America. Through Kapernick using his peaceful platform whilst trying to bring light to the victims through his great efforts of leadership, our president Donald Trump that we would have thought would have at least taken heed from the situation instead went and posted on twitter that he was very disgusted by the NFL for not fining the players for kneeling during the national anthem. To no avail, to make matters worse and very surprisingly the NFL made it a rule month after the President stated his opinion. One of the many unfortunate events following this sad episode was the Philadelphia Eagles not being accepted into the White House for their past accomplishment in winning the Super Bowl. As most historians and Americans know, it’s indeed a tradition to visit the White House after winning a league championship in any American Sport. This is what drives an athlete to play at the best of their ability. So now there is a gap between the government and the sport that most American’s love i.e., watching 22

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,

Picture this, an NFL player getting on the field and warming up. Then, as the game gets closer to starting the field clears so they could get the flag on the field to do the national anthem. This is when something tragically happens. This is when some NFL players kneel during the national anthem. Many people think that protesting the national anthem by kneeling is a bad thing. However, it’s what the players feel like doing even though it is a little disrespectful. Many players kneeled on one day and that was when president Trump made a comment about football.

The President of the United States has tweeted about players, coaches, and even owners kneeling during the national anthem. As shown in paragraph two, the president does not hold back. Trump supporter, the former Jets coach Rex Ryan, said of Trump’s statements: “I’m reading these comments and it’s appalling to me and I’m sure it is appalling to almost every citizen in our country. It should be. ”(4).

People have been associating where others reside with who they are for the majority of history. In June 2015, this issue brought itself into the limelight when a McKinney, Texas police officer said, “Go back to your section 8 home,” to a group of African American teens who were using a community pool in a primarily white neighborhood (The Washington Post, 2015). The term “section 8 home” is loaded, and refers to an old public housing community created by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, which was considered viable for white Americans at the time of its creation, that has unfortunately become a place where poverty stricken people of color often reside (The Washington Post, 2015) Sadly, the basis of this racial slur is valid;

The “Sports Fans Have Never Seemed So Divided” is an article written by Bill Plaschke on 26th September. This article was published in the LA Times Newspaper. In this article Bill explains the various reasons behind the NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. He explains the views of both the people who support the decision and the people who condemn. He gives the views of the president Donald Trump on this issue and how the line-backers thought that it was an assault on the people who kneeled. The people are now fighting for the rights of the Black Americans to be the same as the ones of the white Americans. The people who kneel during the NFL games are just not the Black Americans but also the White Americans who want to make America

A voice is beautiful, as well as deadly. In this free nation, the ability to articulate one's thoughts and opinions is not limited, nor is it prohibited. When people rally together and express their synonymous thoughts, change happens. With a voice, we can defend ourselves against prejudice as well as false accusations. It is such an influential weapon, however, the Asian and Pacific Islander community thus far has not had a chance to actively exercise this right.