The American National Anthem By Francis Scott

In August of 2016, Kaepernick began his protest during a NFL preseason game where he initially sat during the singing of the national anthem. At the time, his rebellious efforts became unnoticed, but he soon enough made headlines when someone took a photo of him sitting during the anthem. Thus a social issue was born from the public’s reaction from the photo.The negativity of the public’s reaction stemmed from the norm that it is customary that people raise their right hand over their heart while facing the flag when the Star-Spangled-Banner is playing, so if one does not follow this norm it is identified showing disrespect. Inevitably, the prediction of the people’s reaction were to be expected as they were outraged when Kaepernick broke the norm. Although, it is legal for individuals not to follow these sacrosanct protocols, citizens of the United States find this norm obligatory.Would you stand by and constantly watch the same social issues to keep reoccurring in your neighborhood? Not only that but it keeps happening to different people by the same organization? When numerous acts of police brutality occurred, Colin Kaepernick decided to protest. He could no longer stand by and do nothing; he decided to take a knee. For professional National Football League (NFL) player, Colin Kaepernick, his response was “no”. One of the last waves that came toward the end of the summer is the kneeling while the national anthem played during sporting events. When Kaepernick decided to

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.

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.

At the start of the 2016 NFL preseason, Colin Kaepernick, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, decided to take a seat during the National Anthem. His gesture during the first preseason game went unnoticed until the third preseason game. Many Americans disapproved and were very angry with him because America thinks sitting during the National Anthem is disrespectful to our military and our Nation. In an interview,32 Kaepernick said he was doing this because there is too much racial discrimination and police brutality against blacks. By the last preseason game, Kaepernick was kneeling instead of sitting because he respects the former and current military and he thought sitting was too disrespectful against the military. As the NFL season continues, so does Kaepernick's protest. Americans should be for the National Anthem Protest because the protest is fighting racial discrimination and police brutality.

As many can tell, this subject has aggravated and divided the country. In the article about Kaepernicks’ protests, in the heading it states that because of his protests, the 49ers fans are burning their jerseys. On Facebook, a person videoed themselves burning a Kaepernick jersey captioned it states "He says he's oppressed making $126 million. Well, Colin, here's my salute to you.” [3]. This debate has brought up the subject of racism that many protest for, the country has been divided into people who agree with Kaepernick, people who disagree with him and people that don't care. Protesting is okay, but protesting isn't always peaceful and could

In this week’s article “The Anthem”, The author, Joe Ponanski, goes deeply into the background of the national anthem to show the importance of the Star Spangled Banner as it unites us as a country. The actions of athletes as they play the anthem have meaning. Inappropriate actions during the anthem can convey a kind of disrespectful demeanor toward the country and our troops, whether this is the intent of the athletes action or not. Colin Kaepernick was making a personal proclamation. He was drawing attention to a very serious predicament, racial discrimination in the US. After the game he 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,". Those who don’t agree with

On August 26, 2016 Colin Kaepernick “Took a stand” by not standing during the National Anthem before the preseason game. This angered many fans, including African American fans. Many videos have gone viral, of fans burning Kaepernick's jersey. In one video the man was recorded saying, “if you don't love our country, get the [] out of it. You should never play another down in the NFL. Move to Canada." Although, Kaepernick broke no rules, Officials are still thinking about penalizing him. Kaepernick says that he will not honor a flag for a country that oppresses people of color. Many people wonder how he knows what it is like to be oppressed making 126 million dollars a year.” Another fact that has angered fans is that Kaepernick was adopted

The highly talked about topics of racism and gun violence are becoming more known now that professional sports athletes are stating their opinions on national television and social media. As police brutality and mass shootings are occurring more frequently, people all over the country feel that they need to do something to stop it. Kaepernick’s

It has been a custom of all citizens, including professional athletes, to stand and remove their hats during the National Anthem since 1931. Although as of late, in an obscure manner of protest, many athletes and now fans have been kneeling during the National Anthem. Perhaps no group has more influence of the general public than professional athletes, which has been clearly documented as of late. All of this protest began when Colin Kaepernick, a back-up quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, kneeled during the National Anthem in the 49er’s first preseason game. Although this form of protest is very peaceful, many people believe it is disrespectful and have begun to question Kaepernick’s patriotism. Kneeling during the National Anthem creates a lot of tension between citizens, especially when it is used to protest a highly controversial topic to begin with.

The Star - Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key as he watched his fellow Americans stand strong in their darkest hour. For over twenty four hours Fort McHenry was bombarded by British Navy, but the American troops fought, and so did their families. The Americans rallied around the singular flag that stood high in the fort, and a flag that was a target for the British armada. They planned to destroy the flag to disrupt moral, but the Americans refused to let it fall. They used that singular flag as motivation, and motivation that eventually won them the battle. The flag still holds the same purpose today. To remember those who have fought, or are currently fighting in our armies. It also serves as a source of pride, motivation, and patriotism towards our country. Knowing what our flag means to our history and our country, we can’t possibly keep letting our countries source of pride be disrespected by those attempting to promote their own cause. Are nations athletes that choose to display their displeasure with our nation’s current state, and disrespect what our flag means for our country.

The protest, which aimed to “restore the radical legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.,” (Parrish) also focused on the shooting deaths of young black men such as Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, and Alton Sterling, among many others. All of these men had been killed during altercations with police officers for nonviolent infractions, such as traffic stops and loitering. From its inception, BLM was met with resistance and criticism from those who believed that the police were acting within their authority and that the racial discrimination was not as bad as BLM portrayed. Despite its peaceful protest methods, opponents angrily and harshly criticized the movement as racist, anti-police, and un-American. The issue came to a head with the recent protest of the National Anthem by NFL player Colin Kaepernick, who began making headlines in 2016 for refusing to stand during the Star-Spangled Banner preceding football games. Kaepernick’s actions, which reflect the spirit of Martin Luther King’s ideology of nonviolent protest, have both inspired similar protests as well as criticism. Yet Kaepernick’s protest remains peaceful and valid, as the injustice of racial discrimination prevails in America.

It was once said by Ronald Reagan that, “When we honor our flag we honor what we stand for as a nation- freedom,equality, justice and hope”. In the article “In the land of the free,’ are you free to sit out of the national anthem?” by Jaweed Kaleem. It all started to get attention at Quarterback from the NFL Football player to remain seated while the “Star-Spangled Banner”. The rest of his teammates stood and had one hand over their hearts during the “Star-Spangled Banner”. When people saw an NFL Player do it; some people follow his lead. While The quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeled when the song came on with one of his teammates. Also, the Cornerback stay seated during that song during that game. Some people have their beliefs on the flag,

Francis Scott Fitzgerald, named after the author of our national anthem, September 24, 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota to Edward Fitzgerald and Mary McQuillan. His mother’s family made a small fortune as wholesale grocers, and his father became a salesman after his business failed. As a child he was both handsome and ambitious. His parents dotted on him, especially his mother. Much of the family’s money was spent on educating Francis. Fitzgerald attended the St. Paul’s Academy. He first published in the school newspaper at the age of thirteen; it was detective story.

Thesis Statement: With this issues popularity in the news I feel that the moral and emotional aspect of Mr. Kaepernick’s actions have been put through their paces, so I decided to focus instead on the story and history behind the flag and anthem of which Mr. Kaepernick directed his protest and give a brief reminder of the logical legality of the decision to kneel during the national anthem.

Francis Scott Key wrote a poem, which eventually became our country’s national anthem. The national anthem is routinely played before sporting events. In recent years, it became a commonplace for fans to stand during the said performance. For the NFL football season in 2016, the San Francisco’s 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, chose to kneel during the national anthem to protest against racial injustice and police brutality against blacks and other minorities. Although many people may not agree with some of the actions, I believe that people should be able to truly express themselves without others judging.