Standing Up For Our Country
Nov 3, 2017
In case you missed it, NFL athletes have been kneeling during the National Anthem to protest racial injustices in the country. The protest started in August of 2016, when the former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick started kneeling during the national anthem.
This quickly instigated a controversy about his reasoning for kneeling and for people believing that this act is “disrespectful.”
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” Kaepernick said.
This all blew up once again when President Trump addressed the kneeling by the NFL, saying how great it would be if an NFL team owner told a player kneeling to “Get that son of a b**** off the field right now, out, he’s fired. He’s fired.”
The trend has spread all around the country, inspiring people to sit down during the Pledge of Allegiance. One of the biggest arguments about these recent events is whether or not this is disrespectful. Factually, it is your right to decide whether or not you want to stand for the National Anthem, but in a way you are disrespecting our troops and our country. We all have a right to kneel or sit during our anthem because of the troops that have fought in war for that right.
Many say that they will not stand for a country oppressing people of color and perpetuating inequality. Other players are now kneeling to protest President Trump’s statements.
While the reasons they are protesting are perfectly fine, they should not be doing it during our national anthem or pledge of allegiance. I say this because there is a time and place for everything, and protesting like this is not the right time nor place. Simply kneeling during the national anthem to protest the violence and murders against innocent African Americans does not make sense because that is not what the national anthem stands for. The flag represents honor, loyalty, and the sacrifices our military made to give us true freedom.
In fact, I think it is very important to protest these issues as they are misrepresenting what our country really is and what it stands for. Now that kneeling during the national anthem has gained traction again, it has caused an outrage in the NFL and its fans.
Many diehard fans are abandoning their teams because of these protests – they’d rather not have politics brought into their sports. Politics should have never been brought into football as it is supposed to be a fun and engaging source of entertainment for people to blow off steam. This whole ordeal has even reached high school students all around the country, inspiring them to remain seated during the daily Pledge of Allegiance.
People who sit for the Pledge of Allegiance sit for the same reason as people in the NFL kneel or sit for the national anthem. Many people at school consider this taboo to do, as we have been taught to stand all of our life, so everybody stands. Since some people now are sitting, other students give them staring eyes, but teachers are also paying attention.
Math teacher Madison McLean feels strongly about this issue. McLean’s husband has been deployed two times already, separating them for a total of 14 months.
“Both me and my husband are disrespected when people don’t stand and appreciate the freedoms that they are given.” said McLean. Although McLean thinks this is disrespectful, she acknowledges that “their freedom was given to them, so they can choose to sit.”
I do not agree with the kneeling and sitting. My family has a long history of serving in the military, but fighting these protests with violence will only make us go backwards. People who are protesting against the kneeling and sitting need to realize that it is the players’ right, and in fact our military are the ones who fought for that right.
There is not one side that is right in this argument.
There is not one side that is right in this argument. Both those who are kneeling and those against kneeling are not understanding each other. People kneeling and sitting don’t realize that it’s very disrespectful to the military and our country, and people against it don’t realize that they have the right to do so. At the end of the day, both sides need to stop dividing our country, but it would all be stopped if these protesters would not continue to disrespect our troops, our flag, and the flag that represents the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Darius Rahmanian ◊ Nov 13, 2017 at 8:37 am
What does “nationalism” have to do with pledging allegiance to the country that gives you the right to deny its protections? If you can’t appreciate the fact that men and women DIE for the essence of liberty and freedom, then there is truly something wrong with the way you think. Sure you don’t have to agree with what DC does all the time, and you literally have a right to do so, but what you are saying has nothing to do with the fact that not standing and not pledging are disrespectful no matter what.
Not only that, every single country has a flag and national anthem! So if you were a citizen of Canada would it be different? There is nothing wrong with being in support of your country. There is nothing wrong for fighting and dying for a good cause and dying for the Star Spangled Banner. You are stuck in the mentality of someone in the early 1900’s which was over a hundred years ago. People don’t blindly follow a Fuhrer or Emperor anymore, people do not fight anymore for the expansion of empire or land. What the U.S. fights for is protection of its allies and its people. Fun fact, The German Empire does not exist anymore, neither does the British Empire, nor the French.
Is it wrong for me or my peers to celebrate the fact that our nation liberated Europe completely, then sent Japan packing with our sheer scientific and military might. These are just two of the many things that citizens of this nation have done, and we are not done yet.
Let’s look at all the positive things the United States has done under this one flag
-America fought for independence from the British Empire and established the first government based off of Freedom, Liberty, and the right to economic opportunity.
-America continued to grow and challenge these gigantic European powers all in the name of national sovereignty.
-Americans manifested the true potential of the north american continent and brought massive leaps in technology and civilization
-620,000 American Men died fighting to restore the Union and abolish slavery
-When America gave women a right to vote, it was so significant no other suffrage movement except for others done by Americans have ever compared
-Over 100,000 American men died to help our allies defeat nationalism in Europe, not spread it
-Americans completely industrialized the country becoming self sustaining
-Over 290,000 Americans died to liberate not only the Pacific but Western Europe from the grip of Fascism. And yes we liberated not controlled. (sent the axis powers back to the stone age)
– We stood up against one of the greatest threats this world has ever known aka Communism which has twice the kill count of Fascism.
-Over 50,000 American men died saving Korea from being completely Communist. As you can see now, South Korea is definitely the better Korea and the is recognized internationally as the true Korean government
-America had the largest civil rights movements of all time and brought us the legendary Martin Luther King Junior and the push for a more united America
-Over 70,000 American men died trying to keep the peace in a war that should not have happened in the first place
-America defeated the Soviet Union and is the only World Super Power Remaining
-America was the leader into the new technology age and we still are.
-Almost 10,000 combined American deaths fought for your right not to be car bombed or have planes flown into sky scrapers in the Iraq and Afghanistan Operations.
So Charlie, next time you decide to sit down during the national anthem or pledge, just think. How many men and how many women worked hard to bring about the nation we have today. Think about the sacrifices of the common man and the determination of the American people to do what is right. Think about all the positive things done under the flag. Think about how the American Government openly lets you dissent without sending you to a gulag or concentration camp.
David Fosman ◊ Nov 13, 2017 at 7:59 am
*too
Charlie Lewis ◊ Nov 8, 2017 at 7:45 pm
I personally never stand for the flag/national anthem. Why? Because it is a symbol of nationalism, which I am personally not in support of. If this bothers you, to bad.
Mason Manti ◊ Nov 6, 2017 at 8:14 am
I believe it is disrespectful and prejudice to put an African man knealing on a flag to symbolize football. Not to mention the fact that kneeling during the national anthem is a shameful act that disrespects our country and its very fundimentals.
Joey Babcock ◊ Nov 6, 2017 at 12:44 pm
It should be noted that that is not meant to be a “generic African american”, the design was meant to be Colin Kaepernick who began this flag nonsense. Regardless, it is not “disrespectful” or “prejudice” to show an African American kneeling on the flag, when they are primarily the ones who are kneeling for the purpose of (protesting police abuse?).
Donald ◊ Nov 6, 2017 at 10:01 pm
“I believe it is disrespectful and prejudice to put an African man knealing on a flag to symbolize football. ”
No one cares about your feelings.
“Not to mention the fact that kneeling during the national anthem is a shameful act that disrespects our country and its very fundimentals.”
I can agree with that.
sam bodnar ◊ Nov 4, 2017 at 12:59 pm
“there is a time and place for everything” this is the key to this entire situation! Fantastic point. Some more adherence to the opposite side would have been nice, but nevertheless good work.
Darius Rahmanian ◊ Nov 3, 2017 at 12:49 pm
Well written and Well versed Estes. Every American has a right to protest the President and the government. It just seems a tad bit over done when these guys get paid millions to literally just hit each other. It is just feels wrong for them to do it. The American people agreed as well, some even burned their merchandise to show their dissent.
It felt like a giant PR stunt that either worked for a team or did not based on their fans and home states. Not only this, you are not supposed to express your political views during work or during professional events such as football. Americans watch football to get away from the toxic political climate not get stuck in it. If you paid attention, even big sports news/pod casters knew it was a gigantic stunt as well.
It was a bout of stupidity in my opinion that has died off in the recent weeks and ultimately just divided America more than helped it. Not only that Kaepernik hasn’t got a job anymore and no ones willing to give him one. So good job you really did something good didn’t you Kaepernik