NFL Protests on the Rise
By Jaiha Lee
It all started last year.
In August 2016, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat down during the national anthem. When asked why he claimed, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” In later games, he chose to kneel, and the rest they say is history. His action took headlines by storm and soon he became the most controversial athlete that year, with viewers either boycotting games or supporting him.
Now, more than a year later, President Trump decided to bring attention to the issue again. In the midst of supporting Senate candidate Luther Strange at a rally, he addressed the crowd in Alabama by saying, “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say: ‘Get that SOB off the field right now, out.’”
He later took to Twitter and posted comments further berating the NFL for allowing players to kneel, enforcing his belief that players should be fired if they kneel or refuse to stand during the national anthem.
If Trump was aggravated by what Kaepernick started back then, it has become more clear what he feels a year later. Soon after the president’s statements went viral, an unprecedented number of football players followed the former quarterback’s actions and demonstrated their opposition to Trump’s opinions. It was reported that more than 130 football players protested during nine early games. The Tennessee Titans stayed inside the locker room during the national anthem, the Buffalo Bills placed their hands on their kneeling teammates’ shoulders, the New England Patriots locked arms, and countless more teams played a part in the movement.
The support was widespread and not just limited to the field. Owners and coaches linked arms with their players, even those who had supported Trump during the election, expressing disappointment in Trump’s assertions. Some singers kneeled after singing the national anthem, Stevie Wonder kneeled during a concert at the Global Citizen Festival, and the hashtag, #TakeAKnee, took Twitter by storm.
Despite the acclaim, this display of unity was not taken well by the audience who paid to see the game. Crowds booed the teams, assuming that the players were intentionally disrespecting the flag, or at least protesting in a way that insulted what the country stood for and those who defend it. They came to watch football, not an act of defiance.
But the athletes disagree. They weren’t kneeling because they were disrespecting the flag and the veterans who served this country, but instead chose to take advantage of their first amendment rights by publicly broadcasting their beliefs against racism to millions of people across the nation. First Things First host, Nick Wright, put it best: “When people march, they are not protesting traffic. The players have been uniform that they are using the anthem as a vehicle to protest inequality, police brutality, and racial injustice.”
He also added that if Kaepernick had been protesting another issue, such as how veterans were not receiving the job opportunities they deserved, and refused to stand during the anthem, he would still be “disrespecting the flag”.
Wright finished his position by urging viewers to ask themselves this question: “Are you angry about the protests because you think it’s disrespecting the flag, or are you angry at what is being protested?”
