Religious Oppression in America

n 2016 Colin Kaepernick first took a knee when the national anthem played during an NFL preseason game. Since then the form of protest has sparked many conversations ranging from whether the protest was acceptable or not to what he is protesting. Before August 26, 2016, Kaepernick was just another NFL player, but after he started kneeling during the national anthem he has become more well known amongst more than just sports fans. His form has protest has caused outrage from some people, and major support from others.

President of the United States, Donald Trump, has given his input on Kaepernick’s protest as well as other celebrities and even other NFL players.

Donald Trump tweeted ‘can’t believe it! Isn’t it in contract that players must stand at attention, hand on heart? The $40,000,000 Commissioner must now make a stand.  First time kneeling, out for game. Second time kneeling, out for season/no pay!’ (Trump, 2018). Many people have spoken out about why kneeling during the national anthem is an inappropriate form of protest and one of the main point people have brought up is the fact that it is believed to be unpatriotic and an insult to veterans. In a country where being a patriot and supporting those in the military is fairly common, being seen as unpatriotic or against veterans would cause some backlash.

However, Kaepernick has come out and given the reason why he started the ‘Take a knee’ protest, and the reason has absolutely nothing to do with veterans who serve America. When Kaepernick was asked why he began the ‘Take a knee movement he replied saying he will ‘not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.’ (Wyche, NFL.com, August 27, 2016). Kaepernick’s form of protest, kneeling, is respectful, an attempt to bring awareness to a huge issue in America, peaceful and legal, and totally justified.

Protesting is a form of expression for many people. When someone protests something it is usually because he or she has strong feelings about the subject that he or she believes needs to be heard. The first two times Kaepernick protested he did not take a knee, he just did not stand for the National Anthem, he remained seated. After a few times, he began taking a knee instead of just remaining sitting. Once the public began paying attention to his actions, they started giving their opinions and thoughts on how it is right or wrong to do. For a lot of people when the American flag is mentioned, the military is immediately thought of.

An American flag being raised is like supporting the military, while one being destroyed or tampered with is thought of as disrespecting them. A flag lowered to half-staff is usually in remembrance of an important person, or a catastrophic event that happened. So it is not hard to assume that Kaepernick’s protest has something to do with the military because of how the American flag and military is closely associated, but in this case, the movement has nothing to do with the military. Kaepernick is bringing awareness to the police brutality and oppression against black people and people of color. The military has nothing to do with this movement, seeing how it more has to do with the social justice system of the United States.

Even though Kaepernick has come out and said that his protest was not against the military, many people, a lot of whom have never served in the armed forces, have shared their opinions about his protest, a lot of which containing how it is disrespectful towards veterans. People share their thoughts about how Kaepernick taking a knee instead of standing for the national anthem and flag is basically saying he does not care about veterans of the U.S. and those who gave their lives fighting for America. However, the idea that Kaepernick should kneel actually came from a veteran. Unlike most people, a veteran noticed how Kaepernick did not stand during the first two preseason games of the NFL season and wrote a letter to Kaepernick saying how he should kneel for his protest.

Kneeling is usually seen as a positive thing, people kneel before royalty, when proposing to someone, if someone gets hurt during a sports event people kneel, he or she might kneel in front of the grave of someone he or she is mourning, it is seen in many religious aspects as well. Kneeling is mostly thought of in a positive connotation unless it is purposefully being used as disrespectful. So Kaepernick kneeling for the flag is not disrespectful, it is showing a protest in a very respectful way. He could do something way more drastic or violent to bring awareness to his cause, but all he is doing is kneeling instead of standing. He is not yelling or bringing attention away from the national anthem, he is instead quietly protesting.

The ‘Take a knee’ protest is to bring attention to police brutality and oppression towards black people and people of color in America, something that a lot of people are trying to bring awareness to. There a have been a lot of what is thought to be unarmed people of color being killed by police for no reason, but for a lot of those cases it is not completely confirmed whether or not the victim was unarmed and they did not deserve to be shot. Even though a lot of the cases have not been completely confirmed to have been escalated for no reason, there are a lot of signs that make people believe that the victim was shot for no reason. Many officers have been declared innocent of hurting someone for no reason, but a lot of the cases have cause for some backlash against those officers as well.

The only way to know for sure what happens is if there are cameras and recording devices at every scene that can pick up every detail, which will probably not happen in the near future. Police officers have already started wearing personal cameras to record what they do while working, and sometimes the cameras can help out, but sometimes they are not used at all and no one knows what truly happened again. Kaepernick taking a knee is an attempt to bring awareness to police brutality and oppression in America. Even if it is not completely resolved, and it is still an issue in 2018, awareness has been brought to police brutality. Something as simple as taking a knee has brought attention to this huge problem in America and Kaepernick did it in a way that is peaceful and does not cause a huge scene.

Kaepernick kneeling in 2016 cause a chain reaction of many other athletes, professional or not, veterans, celebrities, and even regular people to kneel for the national anthem as well. Some student-athletes have chosen to support the cause and take a knee during the national anthem as well. Some schools that have student-athletes taking a knee have said that the student will be suspended or punished if they take a knee. However, it is illegal for a public school to force a student to stand for the National Anthem and the supreme court very clearly declared that ‘Punishing students for not participating in the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional.’ (Cohen, RollingStone.com, October 6, 2017).

Public school student-athletes are allowed to take a kneel, stand, participate or not participate during the national anthem and there is nothing the school can do to make them participate. Threatening students with suspension, expulsion, or punishment at all is unconstitutional and illegal. Apart from student-athletes, there is nothing that says people absolutely have to participate during the national anthem. If they do not it may cause some controversy, but according to the U.S. Code for the national anthem states that ‘(1) when the flag is displayed—  individuals in uniform should give the military salute at the first note of the anthem and maintain that position until the last note;  members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are present but not in uniform may render the military salute in the manner provided for individuals in uniform; and

All other persons present should face the flag and stand at attention with their right hand over the heart, and men not in uniform, if applicable, should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart; and when the flag is not displayed, all present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed.’ (Legal Information Institute). This may sound like people have to participate during the National Anthem, but never once does it say it is required. The code says people in uniform should salute, people should face the flag and should face the music, but the code does not say participation is required.

The code only says people should participate, not that they absolutely have to. Members in the NFL however, may have signed a contract stating that they have to participate during the national anthem, but for just about anyone else that kneels to show protest is doing something that is completely legal and cannot be a cause for punishment. Taking a knee is a completely peaceful act, there is no violence, no loud screaming or yelling that accompanies the act, and it really does not draw attention to itself unless someone points the act out. Some protests in the past have not been as peaceful as this one is. Some other protests have done anything from shouting to get attention to physically fighting other people. This is not saying that everyone that is protesting police brutality and oppression is being peaceful, but those who chose to kneel instead of fighting are protesting in a peaceful and safe way.

Protesting for something someone believes in is understandable. It may not always be a good thing to protest, but if someone truly believes in it then his or her protest is understandable. Protesting for this specific cause, oppression of people of color and police brutality is a cause most people can understand and support. Taking a knee, or protesting for this cause is justifiable because the people want to make America into a better country. America is supposed to be the land of the free, so there should be no oppression in the United States. The people who join this movement want a better America, they want to live in a country where everyone is equal and no one is judged based on his or her skin color, religion, ethnicity, etc.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to live in a country where everyone is free. In fact, America prides itself on being free, a place where no one is judged based on how he or she looks, and yet in 2018 there are still protests happening because people are judged on how they look and appear. If anything more people should be working on making America a more free country, especially if part of the national anthem says ‘O’er the land of the free’ (Star-Spangled Banner). Why should anyone stand and support a song about a country when that song does not accurately represent the country? This entire movement is trying to move towards less fighting, less death, less murder, and more freedom and equality. It is justifiable to want to work towards bettering a country that claims it is already great.

On the other hand, there a few arguments that could be made as to why people should stand for the national anthem. Because some people view the take a knee movement as disrespectful, the people who are taking a knee are not getting any kind of respect from them. Also, there is racial stereotyping beyond just the criminal justice system, and this movement is not fighting that. And, nothing has changed since this movement began. These are all good counter-points to why taking a knee during the national anthem is either bad or just pointless.

If people view those who take a knee during the national anthem as being disrespectful, then there is no way that they are going to gain any one’s respect through what can be seen as a disrespectful act. It is understandable how it is seen as disrespect, and honestly, there is really no changing someone’s opinion on if it is disrespectful. Those who are apart of the Take a knee movement have said that they do not mean for it to be disrespectful and that they are just trying to bring awareness to certain problems in today’s society, but if someone truly believes that it is meant as disrespect, then there is little to no way his or her mind is being changed. The only thing that can be done is to try and convince the person that it is not supposed to be a disrespectful act.

The movement mainly focuses on injustice in the criminal justice system, but there are a lot of other places that racial stereotyping and injustice is found. America has never been a country that can change something all at once, it is done little by little. A few new rules here and a few new rules there, but it has never been changed overnight. Following history, changes would have to be made little by little to hopefully reach a country that is equal for all. Slaves were not abolished all at once, the constitution was not made and kept the same way forever. Everything that has been done has either been altered in some way or done little by little to eventually reach the end goal.

The point of this movement is to bring awareness, and even if nothing drastic has changed yet, awareness has been brought about police brutality and racial injustice. One of the only things that have changed legally is now NFL teams can be fined if players kneel during the national anthem. A lot of awareness has been brought to the subject of police brutality, which was the main reason for Kaepernick kneeling in the first place. Even though a ton of things might not have changed yet, so far the protest is doing exactly what it is meant to do, spread awareness.

Taking a knee is a peaceful, respectful, legal and completely justified way to protest. Kaepernick started the movement to bring attention and awareness to police brutality and the oppression of people of color in America. That needs to change, America is supposed to be home of the free and how is America going to be free if there are officers killing people for no reason. No one should get punished for taking a knee, most likely they are not doing anything wrong and all that they are trying to do is make America and better and freer country. 

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