The thoughts and views within this article are that of the author and therefore do not represent the thoughts and views of The College of New Jersey or Her Campus TCNJ.
Let me start off by saying I do find it a little concerning that the President of the United States is tweeting more about football than all the recent natural disasters combined.
This all started when Colin Kaepernick began protesting police brutality and the inequality people of color face in the United States, going back to August 2016. He took a knee during the national anthem as a way of silently protesting the injustices. Those that were against Kaepernick’s kneel last year believed the physical act of kneeling and not placing your hand over your heart showed tremendous disrespect to the American flag, and consequently, America.
However, the recent heat that is dominating all news channels and social media stemmed from President Trump saying in a rally that the NFL owners need to fire “sons of b****es who are disrespecting the flag.” Ever since then, team owners have came out to kneel with the players, or all lock arms as defiance to President Trump’s statement.
As with any political statements, the idea of taking a knee was guaranteed to stir commotion, which was exactly what Colin Kaepernick wanted. He wanted to use his platform to get people to acknowledge that there is racial inequality and police brutality towards people of color. What many of us don’t seem to understand is why our President is so focused on causing extra commotion with the NFL?
Here is just a brief list of chaos that has embraced President Trump’s term:
– Hurricane Irma
– Hurricane Harvey
– Hurricane Maria
– President Trump’s acknowledgement of Hurricane Maria
– Trump administration rescinding DACA
– Multiple failures of repealing and replacing Obamacare
– Wall debate
– Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and others use of private emails
– Collusions with Russia
– Las Vegas shooting
America currently has actual problems. You are failing replacing ObamaCare and now just want to repeal it without any plan for American people. Even Majority Leader Mitch McConnell publicly stated the reason that it is so hard to repeal and replace ObamaCare is because our current President has no experience in it. Rescinding DACA has thrown over 800,000 people’s lives into chaos, and they are scrambling trying to figure out their futures. The Trump campaign’s only leverage was Hillary using private emails, and now even the Advisor to the President has been caught doing the same thing. Natural disasters have been occurring throughout the country. Republicans are shooing away the Las Vegas shooting to minimize talk of gun control. And you are causing drama over football?
Let’s hypothetically state the Trump Administration had no actual problems and this was the only thing to talk about. Even then, taking a knee during the National Anthem is still appropriate:
- We are all entitled to freedom of speech.
- America does have racism. This racism was displayed multiple times – even by our current President, and was the main reason why he was able to gain so many supporters.
- Police brutality towards people of color is heatedly debated – but it still exists. For many, Philando Castile highlighted how you can calmly tell a police officer you have a gun (which you have the right to own) and yet still get shot because you are black. With your child in the backseat. No matter where you stand on police brutality, you know that this incident wouldn’t have happened if Castile was white.
- If you do not use your platform to protest a form of oppression, then you are still part of the problem. Several media reporters stated that, “These football players are making millions anyways and should be grateful to America.” If people cannot protest in the streets, or on the field, or in classrooms, then where exactly should the protest be? These statements are from people who are privileged, and are trying to suppress those who are not from speaking out.
- Yes, these football players are rich. But the majority of other people of color are not making millions. These people do not have a voice – because every other protest done in the past was portrayed negatively. Black Lives Matter became a huge debate and TV figures such as Tomi Lahren vehemently stated that black people shouldn’t take to the streets and protest. Why would a white female, who has openly admitted before that, “She has nothing to protest,” try and speak for those who DO have something to protest?
- It took a Civil War to try and end slavery. And even that didn’t completely eradicate it. Cafeteria sit-ins were done throughout the 1960’s to try and protest peacefully against racial segregation. These silent protesters were usually arrested. And yet, despite all of these movements, racism still persists today and is now seen from our leader.
Colin Kaepernick and the other NFL players are doing the same thing those students did at cafeteria sit-ins: silently protest a recurring injustice. There is not a single act of violence when these NFL players take a knee. They love the flag just as much as every other American does. They are acknowledging that this flag represents a great country. However, this country does have its flaws. Racism has been one of them for hundreds of years. We have to acknowledge the problem to try and get rid of it. If everyone sits quietly and doesn’t speak out when they see injustices, then how is our democracy different from a country’s dictatorship?
Oh and President Trump – if you love our flag so much, can you stop tweeting and start helping?
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