Lately we have seen a lot of the players in sports, especially the National Football League (NFL) and National Basketball Association decided to take a knee or locking arms with others. They were shown on television and as well in the media, there are two divided groups who support the decision of the players to take a knee or to lock arms and who are against the decision of the players taking a knee or lock arms with others. Players, coaches and even owners would decide either to take a knee or to lock arms with others while the National Anthem plays or sings by certain singers which they traditionally do so before the game starts. From the beginning, it was Colin Kaepernick as a quarterback at San Francisco 49ers last year where he decided to sit on the bench during the National Anthem in protest, as the media immediately noticed that and the next game Colin Kaepernick decided to take a knee instead of sitting on the bench like he did in the beginning but this time a few of his teammates joined the protest by taking a knee with Colin Kaepernick. This was last year, that protest were criticized heavily by some of the people and since then Colin Kaepernick have taken a knee during the National Anthem almost the entire of his 2016 season before he decided to opt out of his contract with San Francisco 49ers to test out the market to see if there are other NFL teams who would be interest in obtaining him to be their quarterback but unfortunately it was at the wrong time because almost every NFL teams didn’t need a starting quarterback which is what Colin Kaepernick looks for. Not only that, I am sure that maybe there are a couple of NFL teams who would be interested to obtain Colin Kaepernick but feared the attention that Colin Kaepernick may bring if they were to sign him since the National Anthem protest.
Fast-forward to this year, last Sunday Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens decided to take a knee along with some lock arms in London when they play the National Anthem song as they traditionally do. The President of the United States took to the twitter to condemned both teams for doing that which caused an uproar in entire National Football League “NFL”.
President of the United States Donald Trump repeatedly criticized the protest, saying that they were disrespectful, disgraceful and that everyone who were involved should be fired immediately. Not only that, he also said that National Football League ratings has declined more than ever, and he encouraged the fans to switch the channel or turn off the television when any teams in National Football League plays. His statements caused an uproar in National Football League as since the Jaguars-Ravens game, from there every teams in National Football League joined the protest by either taking a knee, locking in arms with others and or not coming out on the field during the National Anthem. Since then, there are two divided groups who supports National Football League in protest on that day and who doesn’t support the protest. What a lot of people forget is that from the very beginning, the reason that Colin Kaepernick sat on the bench during the National Anthem was because he is very tired of seeing injustice in people of colors community and he had enough of the people of colors being an easy target when it comes to the police officers. The law enforcement have either injured or killed too many people of colors in short time, the perfect example I can remember of is that there was an event in Kentucky where Donald Trump came to visit for his presidential campaign and he decided order his securities to get them out of the public avenue which they have every right to be there so up on that stairs there were a line of people walking out then a white man sucker punched a black man while doing nothing in return – the police immediately arrested the black man then pretty much dragged the black man out by themselves. That man, white old man at that who sucker punched the black man who was walking in a line with other people who were kicked out by Donald Trump had a free pass and the police did not bother to question him or to arrest him as well until a few days later after the media showed the video to the entire world so that cornered the police department into finally do something about that old white man who sucker punched the black man.
That is just one example of many examples which you can find on the search engines such as Google or on video sharing service such as YouTube. That was one of many reasons that started this, I mean how can you not see the elephant in the corner? The elephant in the corner I am referring is the race. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who got upset when the entire National Football League teams decided to take a knee, lock in arms or not coming out to the field during the National Anthem and thinks that it is a disrespectful to the veterans who died for the freedom in United States. I notice that most of these people are Trump supporters and I wasn’t surprised when I noticed that because that is just it is.
Links To Learn About It
After Trump Blasts N.F.L., Players Kneel and Lock Arms in Solidarity by Benjamin Hoffman, Victor Mather and Jacey Fortin at NY Times
NFL players kneel for anthem in unprecedented defiance of Trump by Bryan Armen Graham and Martin Pengelly at The Guardian
Donald Trump: ‘Fire or suspend’ players who kneel during anthem at USAToday
And there are plenty more, all you have to do is search over at Google or Bing.
My Opinion
Now I am going to share my opinion as I said on Twitter that I have refrained myself from sharing what I think of this. Which side do I support? Owners, Coaches, Players, Fans and these people in National Football League and in National Basketball Association – I mean, duh! Why wouldn’t I? They have every right to do this, you cannot deny their freedom of expression and freedom of speech since that is in the constitutions of the United States. To be honest with you, I am starting to get tired of seeing a lot of people on my friends list adding photos effect to their Facebook display picture with the quote “I Stand” because I don’t think that they realize that they are making a fool of themselves for doing so especially that we are in a country that the white people dominates and being very unfair with the people of colors or other minorities including the Deaf community. Taking a knee, locking in arms or not being out on the field during National Anthem are their choice and they did not do that to disrespect the veterans or the soldiers who died fighting in the United States war. That must stop, thinking that they disrespect them when it even has nothing to do with that and beside why should anyone stand to honor a United States flag that represent a country who does horrible things for the people especially that is not white? I agree with this person named Ridor who says, “why should I stand during the National Anthem when there is no interpreter?” and beside I suggest that you do research on the police brutality where you will find that the most police brutality aimed at the people of colors. Of course, these people of colors feel betrayed by its own country and think that they are going to stand to pledge the National Anthem after all? Doubtful.
Now let’s not get that twisted that I do not support the veterans by saying that I support the people of colors and minorities who decided to take a knee or to do nothing during the National Anthem because I do more than ever for all my life. Every time I suspected that they happen to be a veteran, I made sure that they know I am very thankful for their service and that goes the same for the active soldiers of today. If you get angry by the fact that people in sports who decided to take a knee, lock in arms or not coming out to the field then you do the research first before you say something that makes you look a fool and many of us are getting tired of seeing that not many of people understands the meaning of this protest that is going on around in sports or outside the sports. Please educate yourself I ask, before you decide to say anything negative about it because it could make you out as a racist and that isn’t a good thing at all. As Colin Kaepernick says of his protest in the beginning when he decided to sit on the bench during the National Anthem last year – “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people, and people of colors”. Not only that they oppress the people of colors but also the police getting away with the murders, if you aren’t aware of how many they are then you would be shocked and maybe then you will finally see the whole picture for once of all. Google it! I mean seriously. That is just only a few reasons for this as there are many more to it.
I am with them all the way on this and shame on the President for condemning them for showing how they feel and enough is enough, really. It is time that we respect their feelings because it is very valid one at that by these people and if you don’t care – shame on you.
Over to You
I am sure that this blog post probably will anger some of the people especially on my friends list who overreacted to easily and ignored their feelings, but I don’t care to be honest with you. Thank you for reading and I hope you all have a great morning! Feel free to leave a comment below if you would like to talk about this.
Joshua “Joshie” Sullivan
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