Protests in American sports over issues of civil rights are deeply-rooted into the culture of the society. From the four gold medals of Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson entry into baseball to the recent NFL National Anthem protests, the protests have taken different shapes over the history of sporting activities in the U.S. While protests against racial discrimination has existed over time, they have characterized strong backlashes from people who view them as “un-American” and attacks on idealized concept of America. The attention that is drawn on elite amateur and professional athletes give them adequate avenues to start conversations which reach all types of ideological and identify divides. Despite the way the public and the leadership of the country perceive such conversations, it is undeniable that the athletes have the immense power of getting their grievances to the public sphere.
The 2016 protest of San Francisco’s quarterback, Colin Kaepernick over the oppression of people of color when he refused to stand for the national anthem have ignited a national debate over racism, injustice, and patriotism. The issues have become part of mainstream conversation. As noted, Kaepernick was not the first NFL player to engage in such protests. Among the many reasons that make the United States, a great country is the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the constitution (De La Cruz, 2018). Granted by the 1st amendment, freedom of speech entails the ability of citizens to express their views or opinions without intimidation, restraint or censorship. Ironically, when professional athletes decide to apply such rights and articulate their views, many people express their restlessness about the behavior (De La Cruz, 2018). Accordingly, this paper explores the debate and outlines whether athletes using their social status and platforms be viewed as anti-American, the ways the protest could be considered unpatriotic as well as why Colin Kaepernick took a knee in protest.
Anti-American Debate Vis-À-Vis the Rights of Freedom of Speech and Protest
Freedom of speech is among the fundamental rights provided by the constitution and every citizen is at liberty to express and show their views while exercising such rights (McGinty, 2017). When athletes use their social status and platforms in the society to express their dissatisfaction with anything including the system of governance or social issues, they do so to for the betterment of the society. Therefore, such individuals should not be condemned or fired but should rather be supported in their course to achieve intended goals and objectives. Firing athletes for protesting is an act of unethical decisions on labor issues.
Besides, athletes in the National Football League such as Kaepernick did not violate any part of NFL rules when he engaged in protests by taking-a-knee. Based on NFL rules, “Players are encouraged but not required to stand during the playing of the National Anthem” (De La Cruz, 2018, n.p). Therefore, any efforts or decisions geared towards ensuring players who do not stand for the national anthem lose their jobs are unreasonable and aim at silencing them against speaking about issues they consider important.
In a wider perspective, taking-a-knee is like a religious genuflection that is, a show or gesture of self-surrender before the countless realities of human suffering. When black athletes take a knee before the start of a game during the national anthem, they protest police violence against the Blacks and as such, make a gesture of pain and distress (Siegel, 2017). No matter the politics, such actions are an expression of pain, distress, and realities of human suffering. Besides, engaging in speech with good intentions and not skeptically recasting it into existing narratives is vital to human development (McGinty, 2017). Notably, there is lack of clear boundaries between a speech considered inappropriate that would preclude an athlete from employment and identify of a human being to express themselves and still expect to earn a living after their actions. Therefore, athletes who decide to use their social status and platforms to talk about social issues should not be viewed as anti-American. They should also not lose their jobs for such actions.
Ways in Which the Protest Was Not a Sign of Patriotism and when it Could Turn into Nationalism
The constitution of the United States does not specifically grant the right to protest. What the constitution grants are the freedom of speech, right to petition the government as well as the freedom of assembly. While it fails to mention with explicit discretion the freedom of association, in NAACP v. Alabama, the United States Supreme Court ruled that association is in many forms and is the effective way through which people can exercise their freedom of speech (Allen, 2011). Nevertheless, there are limits to freedom of speech and peaceful protests. Given that government agencies are allowed to enforce such limits (time, manner and place of peaceful protest), some people would view protest against the national flag is disrespectful and non-patriotic. For instance, President Trump believed the athletes showed disrespect to the national flag and American troop, a behavior he considered un-American. The fact that many players joined the protest to take in complex social issues and did not suffer repercussions characterize an important step towards respecting the rights of the athletes.
The issues surrounding “taking-a-knee” for the anthem is not about patriotism or lack of it but it rather outlines sincerity of the affected group (Jenkins, 2017). While some side of the debate think their views are the right ones, the opponents believe in their as well. The Americans, mostly white majority including President Trump and Vice President Pence view the protest as a show of disrespect to the American military sacrifices (Jenkins, 2017). On the other hand, the athletes who took part in the protest believed they were doing it for a course, to show their displeasure on how the police handle issues when it comes to people of color, social injustice, and others.
There are no ways the protests not patriotic. Everyone has a right to protest against an injustice in the society geared towards a certain community or people from a particular race. Ideally, there is no moral dilemma in this issue and the opponents of the protests cannot argue that they respect the flag more than the athletes. Such a stance is a matter of failing to recognize the social evils that the American society is made of and the need to rethink about the future of the country, solve the problems of police brutality against the people of color and foster a united nation (Pena, 2017). NFL players have a close relationship with the military and veterans just like other citizens and there is a need to listen to their petition before calling them “un-Americans” (Jenkins, 2017).
The protests turn into nationalism when they are geared towards a clear goal that benefits the society. As aforementioned, the protests have never been intended to disrespect the flag or American troops but rather to raise awareness about social injustices and true nationalism involves taking actions that positively impact on a society like speaking against police brutality, racial discrimination and the need for prison and criminal justice system reforms.
The protest against police brutality and promoting prison reforms resulted in a series of meeting between the owners of the teams, players, and the government to hear the motivation and the concerns of players who joined the protest (Pena, 2017). The players who joined the protest came from various teams such as Philadelphia Eagles, the Minnesota Vikings, the Jacksonville Jaguars as well as the Patriots. As such, the protest spread across the country not for disrespect but as a show of nationalism in solving a social issue.
Why Colin Kaepernick Took a Knee and How the Press and Attention Shine a Greater Light on Social Issues
Essentially, the protests started with taking a knee during the national anthem on national television, regarded as disrespectful to Americanism and the military, but also seen as a gesture of respect and concern (Branch, 2018). August 26th, 2016, during a National Football League showed Colin Kaepernick refusing to stand when the national anthem was being played before the start of a match between his team and Green Bay Packers (De La Cruz, 2018). When asked about the reason he did not honor the national anthem, Kaepernick mentioned his displeasure for the flag of a country that oppresses the blacks and other people of color.
There are several accounts of social injustice against people of color in the American history and the basis for Kaepernick taking the knee is evident in a different sphere of the society. His actions did not violate any of the NFL rules since players are encouraged and but forced to stand during the National Anthem. in the era of rising police brutality and increasingly eminent killing of African-Americans and other minorities only deepen the gap in the country’s social integration and peaceful co-existence and steps by Kaepernick to use their influence to attract public debate about the issues are among the many reasons why he refused to stand for the national anthem (Pena, 2017).
Given that the issue took place in 2016, an era of social media, there were a series of available records and videos of the event circulated in different places around the world shining a greater light on social issues affecting the society despite the diversity of opinions of the reason for the athlete’s action. Besides, it is essential to take note of how the mainstream media or the press first aired Kaepernick’s protest. The world sports’ news channels made it possible for the event and its aftermath get to the public and as a result, initiating a debate about social issues in the society. While many people labeled the player unpatriotic based on their beliefs that he disrespected the flag, veterans, the military forces and the country, their opinions and the role of the press on the issue shined a greater light on the social issues in the society. However, the continued emergence of such protests over time shows that the society does not take with serious consideration, social issues affecting the country such as racial discrimination, stereotypes, police brutality, and poverty and income gap among others.
The debate the press engages in about the issues is always short-lived before they air the next big story. Therefore, the public and the media should strive to “shine a greater light” about societal issues and extend the debate to include different leaders across the spheres of life and as such, make it possible to solve the problems.
Conclusion
As outlined, protests in American sports over issues of civil rights are deep-rooted into the culture of the society. There have been a series of protests with a recent one being the 2016 protest of San Francisco’s quarterback, Colin Kaepernick. Based on the analysis explored herein about the issues relating to the protest, it is evident that people have divergent views whether such action (taking-a-knee) during the national anthem is an act of non-patriotism or speaking against social injustice. While Kaepernick received a series of criticism from different people including the President, he also received support from some segments of the public such as military veterans, some media companies, and fellow football players. Whether the public decides to judge and see Kaepernick as un-American, his protest has brought more light to social issues affecting the American societies. Therefore, such actions by any athlete or player around the world should not be viewed as disrespect to a country’s national flag or the military and as such, should not be used as a reason for firing players.
References
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Branch, J. (2018). National Anthem Protests Sidelined by Ambiguity. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/sports/nfl-national-anthem-protests.html
De La Cruz, J. (2018). Informed athletes should speak out on issues. Retrieved from https://www.niacc.edu/logoslite/2016/11/10/informed-athletes-should-speak-out-on-issues/
Jenkins, S. (2017). There are two sides to the NFL anthem debate, and both are right. And wrong. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/there-are-two-sides-to-the-nfl-anthem-debate-and-both-are-right-and-wrong/2017/10/09/9bcffa36-ad27-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.c67a99139a50
McGinty, R. J. (2017). Fourth " Inches: Marking the Line of Athletes’ Free Speech (A Colin Kaepernick Inspired Discussion). In Pace Intellectual Property, Sports " Entertainment Law Forum (Vol. 8, No. 1, p. 39).
Pena, V. (2017). Taking a stand by kneeling: An analysis of national anthem protest coverage.
Siegel, L. (2017). Why Kaepernick Takes the Knee. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/opinion/nfl-football-kaepernick-take-knee.html
