Speech On Freedom Of Speech

Athletes all over the U.S have made their decision and have taken a stance on what they believe is right. Colin Kaepernick, a football player who used to play for the San Francisco Forty-Niners back in 2016, has made headlines for kneeling during the national anthem. For him, kneeling during the anthem was a gesture of protesting police brutality and social injustice. Although many people claimed that Kaepernick was being anti-american, he was just practicing his first amendment rights. The New York Times has quoted Kaepernick during a post-game conference where he said,- “Once again, I’m not

Colin Kaepernick, a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, has created much controversy in the nation over his latest protest. During a preseason football game Kaepernick was photographed sitting during the national anthem (McKirdy). When asked about the action later, Kaepernick explained, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” (Wyche). The nation exploded. Many showed their support for the quarterback, expressing pride in him for “standing up” for the things he believes in. Others displayed their anger with him for disrespecting the flag and all the things the flag represents. After seeing what a backlash his action received, Kaepernick decided to kneel instead of sitting, claiming that his new way of protesting would show more respect for those in the line of duty (Anthem uproar). Although he has the right to protest, sitting during the national anthem is the wrong way to draw attention to a specific cause.

The National Anthem is our country’s theme song and it is very highly respected throughout our great country. The Anthem talks about freedom, liberty, and justice for all and about how there are great men and women who risk their lives every day so our country can be free. So, when the Anthem is played at professional football games everyone stands and holds their hand over their heart and respects our flag and our Anthem because that is the least we can do to help support and show our respects to our soldiers and our great country. As many people can see, a lot of things are changing, and these changes started when Colin Kaepernick (Former Quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, now a free agent) decided to take a knee instead of standing during the National Anthem in the 2016-17 season. Colin says he did this not to disrespect the soldiers and war veterans but, to bring awareness of the issues going on in our country. Colin said that he felt that our country is not free and justice is not done fairly. He believes there is too much Police brutality “there are people being murdered unjustly and not being held accountable”-Kaepernick. Also, he believes African Americans are treated and looked at differently and it has been that way in the past and it still hasn’t changed. Once Colin kneeled and said all the things he needed to get off his chest the world shook. African American people and professional athletes all over the world agreed with what he did. I’m not saying white people didn’t agree, but it was more African Americans that felt the same way Colin did and

In 2016, Colin Kaepernick, a 49ers quarterback, took a knee during the anthem. He did this to bring attention that there is an oppression of “black people and people of color.” He also adds that once “there’s significant change, and I feel that flag represent what it’s supposed to represent,” then he will stand. All of the players up to now wanted to bring attention to unjustified police shootings that ended up killing people because of their race. Kaepernick caused many people who were passive and didn’t know how to deal with this topic to take a knee during the anthem. He along with many people began to spread awareness that America has a racism problem that should’ve ended decades ago, but is only getting worse.

We have a right to express any opinion with censorship or restraint. Kaepernick chooses not to stand for the National Anthem, because he felt that the police force wasn’t protecting everyone, but causing deleterious to the African Americans. He believes that it was unfair treatment. Colin Kaepernick stood for what he believed in and there should not be anything that could judge him of what he did.

This week’s article, “In the ‘land of the free,’ are you free to sit out the national anthem?” by Jaweed Kaleem, discussed the controversy of quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s choice to sit during the national anthem. Not only did the football star “remain seated while teammates stood with hands over their hearts,” but he also “kneeled when the patriotic music started” during Salute to the Military night at a preseason game. Kaepernick's reasoning behind his actions were that he wants to speak up for “those who don't have a voice,” like the black men who were shot by police. His protest has stirred up controversy across the nation. Many people are against Kaepernick’s actions. Politician Donald Trump felt his actions were out of line and

A Football player named Colin Kaepernick is the quarterback for the San Francisco 49er’s he is protesting racial injustice by not standing for the National Anthem.In August, National Football League (NFL) quarterback Colin Kaepernick began refusing to stand for the national anthem. Many people spoke out against the San Francisco 49ers player for his action. In the midst of a divisive election year, an important discussion about race class and violence in this country was almost abandoned by the news media.Then something surprising happened. Many in the sports world supported Kaepernick and his right to protest. Many did so even as they continued to stand with their hands over their hearts for The Star-Spangled Banner.

It all started on September 1st, 2016 when Collin Kaepernick decided to take knee during the singing of the National Anthem. He was upset about the way our government had been handling situations involving the death of unarmed African American people. This was not the first time someone decided to take a stand and protest during the singing of our national anthem. The protest date all the way back to 1968 at the Summer Olympic games in Mexico City when medal winners, John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised their fist as a sign of black power during the playing of the national anthem. Although the protest dates back into the 1960’s it wasn’t until 2016 when Collin Kaepernick took a knee that it blew up and became such a controversial issue. Since the protest starts in the 1960’s it has had its many pros and cons, most people believe that it is very disrespectful to protest during the national anthem. A popular figure behind this belief is our President Donald Trump, President Trump has gone to Twitter many of times and tweeted how he believes those who participate in the protest should be fined. As we know there are always two sides of every controversial issue. I believe that the national anthem protest has been very successful, and it has done a lot of good for our country. Since Collin begin the protest he has brought awareness to many crimes involving unarmed African American teams, NFL teams and owners have been brought together in unity, and many people are starting to

Colin Kaepernick, a professional football player, is making a statement by kneeling during the national anthem to show his discomfort in the way the minorities have been treated. It is his natural right to protest as a citizen of the United States. He is being criticized and ridiculed for protest, something this country was started by. He has received multiple death threats from people of this country.

Racial Injustices are everywhere in the world today. People been disdgrimminated against, beaten, and killed just because of the color of their skin. One specific athlete Colin Kaepernick decided to “Sit down in order to stand up for his beliefs.”(Graham n.p.) By kneeling during the national anthem, Kaepernick is standing up for the lives of Black people with the support of other athletes. Meanwhile what he is doing is great he needs to do it in another way.

Since the signing of the First Amendment in 1787, Americans have protested, utilizing their right of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. Protesting comes in many forms. Most protests are peaceful; however, some others involve violence. Protests have shaped the United States of America, and without them, the United States wouldn’t exist. One protest that has become a major controversy involves San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. He has refused to stand during the National Anthem of a “country that oppresses black people and people of color” (Gajanan). While many are saying that Kaepernick is disrespecting the troops and must stand for his country, we must remember the First Amendment, which gives us the right of free speech, allowing all of us, regardless of our race or religion, the right to express ourselves without interference from the government. Time.com’s Mahita Gajanan recently wrote an article titled: “Colin Kaepernick and a Brief History of Protest in Sports”. The main idea of the article is that throughout history, many athletes have used their fame to convey their ideas. This purpose of the article is to open the eyes of sports fans, veterans, those who are uninformed, and critics of Kaepernick. In the midst of

The author, Sean Gregory, in “The Perilous Fight,” talks about the political issue that has been going on for the past year, the issue started when a professional football player from the San Francisco 49ers team, also known as  Colin Kaepernick, kneeled down when the National anthem for the United States of America was played at the beginning of a game. Kaepernick’s justification for this, was that this was his way of protesting unfair treatment of individuals because of racial characteristics. Since racism, discrimination, and gender inequalities have been going on for centuries, I agree on the matter of sports players being able to  kneel down when the anthem, “Star spangled Banner,” is being played because these people are trying to stand up for what they believe is right, and they should be allowed to protest because it is serving as a peaceful way to protest for people who are being unjustly treated. Racism and discrimination often leads to these individuals who are suffering to be judged, killed, and many other harsh things that should not be taking place in the “land of the free.” We as Americans are given so many great things, and people think about the United States they usually think of  freedom, pursuit of happiness, and the rights of being a U.S. citizen, but how can we exercise those given rights properly, when t the government does not let us by putting limitations and restrictions on how we use our rights?  When it's

Kaepernick chooses to kneel because he will not “show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color” (Wyche). The truth is, this action fixes nothing; it only disrespects the people who fought and died to give Kaepernick the opportunity to even play football. If Kaepernick feels so concerned about this issue, how does simply kneeling help this problem? At the Pearl Harbor 75th Commemoration, the head of U.S. Pacific Command low key called out Kaepernick by making a comment on how the people who died seventy-five years ago never failed to proudly stand and salute their country (Dicker). As if Kaepernick is a stone skipping across the ocean, his actions are creating a large ripple across America. Other athletes, ranging from Pro Athletes to little leaguers, choose to follow in his footsteps and disrespect America. His actions show his admirers and colleagues that dissing their country counts as acceptable behavior. Refusing to stand and honor America during the National Anthem can be extremely offensive and disrespectful to many

Kaepernick has drawn an immense amount of attention onto the topics of football, patriotism and law enforcement. Kaepernick's decision to sit out for the singing of the “Star Spangled Banner” is a decision that should be respected. Kaepernick shouldn’t have to deal with the intense scrutiny he is getting from his own personal choice. Kaepernick believes that the United States national anthem doesn’t represent present day America anymore. Kaepernick says that “ when there is a significant change and I feel like that flag represents what it is supposed to… then I’ll stand” (Kaleem). Kaepernick is simply expressing his freedoms and according to the constitution he isn't doing anything wrong. In fact, he is just executing his rights and freedoms

San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, has immersed himself into a world of controversy by refusing to stand for the playing of the national anthem in protest of wrong-doings against African Americans and other minorities in the United States. Kaepernick's statement on this issue, when asked why he was not standing was, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” So naturally, the debate over whether or not Kaepernick’s reasons for kneeling were valid began.