With a quick Google search, you can find that privilege is defined as “a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people.” With the recent uproar about kneeling during the national anthem, a reminder to be aware of your privilege seems fitting. Each of us has some sort of privilege – whether it’s where we live, what gender we express ourselves as, the sex assigned to us at birth, or the color of our skin. That being said, we don’t all experience our privilege in the same way. Every situation is different, and just because one person may share similar characteristics and traits with another person, does not mean that they will be granted the same privileges.
#TakeAKnee is not a trend; it’s not a fad. Last year when Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem at NFL games, fans and general citizens alike were outraged. How dare he take a knee during something so patriotic, so emblematic of nation’s freedom? Many viewed the act, as an enormous sign of disrespect and that Kaepernick did not deserve to be on the field. Here we are one year later: Kaepernick is out of a job, but the movement he started remains as strong and powerful as ever. Last week, many of the players that took a knee, linked arms on the field or stayed in the locker room while the national anthem played did so beacuse of the fiery comments made by President Trump. Trump expressed that anyone who knelt during the national anthem was a “son of a bitch” and that the team owners should fire any player that disrespects our flag. Besides the racist undertones that riddled Trump’s comments, he seemed to have missed the point of #TakeAKnee entirely.
Kneeling during the national anthem never has been about Trump – although he didn’t help the matter – or the national anthem specifically. Kaepernick’s silent protest began as a response to police brutality and its inherent racial inequality. Kaepernick felt unequal under a flag that was intended to unite everyone together, so he expressed his feelings. His message seemed to fly over the heads of most people, as it continues to do now. People see the act as disrespectful at face value, but fail to understand the deeper message. Many of those angered by players kneeling, linking arms or staying off the field all together see the acts as solely disrespectful because police brutality does not directly affect them. Because of where they live, what they look like, and how they express themselves, they tend not to notice their privilege. What’s important to understand is that these players, owners and others are trying to make a statement – and it is our job to try and hear that message with open minds.
The next time you watch an NFL game and see someone protesting the national anthem remember that there is a deeper message to them taking a knee. Remember that you are not in their situation or their mind frame. #TakeAKnee means so much to those doing it, so the least we can do is try to understand their perspective rather than meeting them with outright defiance.