The Negative Speech : The Views Of Donald Trump In The Anthem

Although NFL athletes are a huge figure in America today, they still choose to disrespect their country by kneeling during the National Anthem. I believe kneeling during the National Anthem is unpatriotic, separate’s teammates and the community, and is also bad publicity. This has caused people to protest the NFL by doing things such as burning their season tickets. Kneeling during the anthem has caused a huge controversial issue that is impacting many. This has not only caught the attention of adults but also children. The NFL is now losing its focus on football and putting more focus on politics.

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.

The current debate over kneeling or sitting in protest during the national anthem to protest police brutality was ignited by Kaepernick in 2016, and later adopted by many other professional football players, high school athletes, and professional athletes in other sports, all who have refused to stand for the national anthem. These protests have created disagreement and sparked a public conversation race, police brutality, the flag and if the NFL is the best forum for to protest such issue. Colin Kaepernick has since said “he’s not protesting the flag but police brutality against African Americans. www.Procon.org

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

Kneeling during the national anthem is not just wrong it is also disrespectful to the multitudes in our country who have served or or presently serving this great nation-- the United States of America. The national anthem represents many things. One of them is the fortitude of our country’s flag. In the anthem it declares that the United States of America is “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” The flag represents the very core and essence of our nation as the only land on the continent that offers its citizens the freedoms it has at the price paid for ultimately by the brave. It is in no way oppressive nor racist. It is the theme song for every American. The intended audience of this paper is an appeal to all Americans. The quarterback of the 49ers football team, Colin Kaepernick, first began a protest to draw attention to a series of incidents against African Americans by remaining seated during the national anthem, “the Star Spangled Banner.” After the great stir Kaepernick caused in the media during September 2016, Kaepernick switched up his protest by taking a knee as a nod or gesture of showing more respect to current and former military after receiving an in-depth letter from Nate Boyer a former NFL player and US military veteran. Boyer served our country as a Green Beret. Over a decade ago, Boyer witnessed genocide while working in Sudan. He met numerous African men who were smitten with America and longed to have the

Kneeling for the national anthem is a legal form of protesting, which is a First Amendment right. Our forty-fourth president, Barack Obama stated that “Colin Kaepernick was exercising his constitutional right to make a statement. I think there’s a long history of sports figures doing so.” The First Amendment right helps the national anthem protest because it supports players to exercise their constitutional right. Not only NFL players kneel in protest, but people outside of football or any sports still kneel in protest. They are not on football fields or kneeling during the anthem. For example, Stevie Wonders has kneeled on his own time, on a stage and not during the anthem.

Colin Kaepernick feels that minorities are not being heard, so he used his higher status to draw attention to the racial inequality by not standing during the national anthem, instead he took a knee. The author of this article feels that the playing of the national anthem has brought politics into the NFL as opposed to Kaepernick as some people feel. However, this article also touches on the fact that his teammate at one point had also taken a knee in support of Kaepernick’s efforts. The way he chose to express his feelings has caused him to be viewed in a negative spotlight by many people all over the country. There are people even outside of the United States who have heard about this controversial situation Kaepernick has been going through.

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.

“For the land of the free, and the home of the brave” the remarkable final words of our nation’s anthem. There has been recent controversy about football players, and many other athletes kneeling during the “Star Spangled Banner” to protest against the tragedies happening in America day after day. The First Amendment gives these athletes the privilege to express those rights by kneeling. People should stand for the national anthem because it is a sign of respect and appreciation for our country. On August 14th, San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick made the choice to kneel during the national anthem. His decision to kneel was because he could not stand in front of a flag that oppresses black people in its nation. Kaepernick’s kneel turned into a nationwide protest for people of color being mistreated in the United States. Did Kaepernick know what the flag actually represented before he took his costly action?

A famous sports figure in history once said, “I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag. I know that I am a black man in a white world” (McKirdy). At first glance, this quote seems to be something that would have been said by the San Francisco 49ers Quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, in light of his recent protests, as well as other sports players who decided to follow suit, to the playing of the national anthem before football games. However, this is not the case. The above quote was written in the 1972 autobiography, I Never Had it Made, written by legendary African American Major League Baseball player, Jackie Robinson (McKirdy). Colin Kaepernick obviously felt the same as Jackie Robinson did when he sat on the bench rather than standing during a rendition of the national anthem before a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers on August 26. During an interview with the media following the game, Kaepernick explained why he refused to stand for the anthem, “‘I am 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. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder’” (Wyche). Kaepernick explains that he refused to stand for the national anthem because of the treatment of minorities in recent events in the US (Wyche). This is his main reason for the protests,

Refusing to stand for the national anthem is disrespecting the flag and every member of the armed forces. Celebrities and others have all chimed in and gave their opinion on Colin’s protest. One person to chime in and has a lot patriotism in her family history is Carole Ishlam, she is one of the great-great-great-granddaughters of Francis Scott Key, the writer of the national anthem. "It just blows my mind that somebody like Kaepernick would do what he does to dishonor the flag of this country and the national anthem” Ishlam said in an interview. She continued, “we have young men and women overseas fighting for this country, people that have died for this country” (ProCon.org) Even supporters of Kaepernick’s message disagree with his actions. One of these supporters is New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who said, “It 's an oxymoron that you 're sitting down, disrespecting that flag that has given you the freedom to speak out” (ProCon.org) Not only did celebrities talk about it, people who are fighting in the war and are representing the flag have put out their own opinions on Kaepernick’s

"The issue of kneeling has nothing to do with race. It is about respect for our Country, Flag and National Anthem. NFL must respect this!" Said Donald J. Trump The President of the United States of America. We the people should show our respects to the Men who established this country. For example, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington. Are all resectebly the people who founded America. For instance, San Francisco 49ers' quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand because," I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,"[Google] Colin Kaepernick is avoiding the fact that the national anthem was made

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

In the past, football players would follow tradition and stand with their hands over their hearts during the national anthem. However, when Kaepernick took a knee in protest during the anthem, it did not take long before he began receiving support from the sports world. Even though many other football players are starting to take a knee, it is still wrong to protest during the national anthem, even peacefully. Athletes should not take a knee during the national anthem because it is disrespectful towards this country, they don’t take into account the fans’ opinions, and there is a better way for them to make a difference.

The decision, made by Colin Kaepernick and a handful of other NFL players, to kneel or sit down during the playing of the American Nation Anthem is an immature and disrespectful gesture to this country and to our flag. There are better more respectful ways to protest and put out word about your cause. While it is our first amendment right to not stand up for the National Anthem, it is my opinion that kneeling for the flag shows disrespect for this country, our armed forces, and the flag itself.