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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Clark chapter.

Nowadays, I can’t go on Facebook without seeing endless opinions and articles on the next controversial thing President Donald Trump has done or said.

This week I decided to dive deeper into a specific issue that has blown up throughout the media. Unfortunately, it wasn’t on the desperate need of help that Puerto Rico and other Islands need due to the devastating hurricane destruction. *Sips tea​*

Last week, President Donald Trump went off in a tangent about how NFL players should stand and be respectful during the national anthem. At a rally, he stated that what hurts the most about watching a game is when; “you see those people taking the knee when they are playing our great national anthem.” In Trump’s eyes, The NFL shouldn’t allow this behavior and he would “love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say ‘get that son of a b**** off the field right now’.” He views this as a disrespectful attack on veterans and service men who fought and still fight for America’s freedom, which gave them the ability to play on these National teams. Are NFL players in protest of the National Anthem? No. Are they Anti-military? No. So what are they protesting?

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As a rebuttal to these comments by the President, a number of NFL players and coaches, knelt and linked arms during the national anthem in protest of Trump’s statements. The Pittsburgh Steelers even demonstrated by  staying in the locker room during the National Anthem. They are expressing their solidarity and fight against police brutality and systematic oppression, that has spread throughout the nation, predominantly towards African Americans. Equal protection under the law is still not seen, despite liberty being one of the fundamentals of America.  Maybe they will stop when all Americans can look at the flag in peace with justice being served.

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Nationwide, Americans are protesting the NFL and switching to college football while others are taking a knee in solidarity and voicing why they support these players. The Remington Research Group did a survey which revealed that “64 percent of voters agree with President Trump and want players to stand for the anthem.”

I wanted to see what students at Clark thought about this matter. I generated a survey titled, “Who do you side with?”. Out of 75 people, 8% sided with our President, 88% sided with NFL players protesting and 4% were undecided. This highlights the historic phenomenon of campus social awareness that carries on.

 

Julia is a Campus Correspondent for Her Campus at Clark University. She is currently a sophomore who is pursuing a bachelor's degree in International Development, along with a minor in Education and a concentration in Africana Studies. Julia aspires to travel the world and all it encapsulates. When she is not writing for Her Campus, Julia can be found in nature, listening to music, indulged in a good book at a local cafe or drowning in her coursework at the library.  
Annabelle is a Senior at Clark University, finishing her undergraduate studies in Business Management, and starting her MBA studies in the 5th year accelerated degree program at Clark. She loves fashion, photography, and writing!