Article Analysis Essay on All Colin Kaepernick Ever Did Was Ask

Inroduction

The controversy on the Colin Kaepernick's kneeling during the national football league's singing of the national anthem attracted numerous reactions, opinions, and comments from various media personnel, bloggers and professional writers. Among these opinions is one on the Washington post by Elizabeth Bruenig, an opinion columnist, on the hypocrisy surrounding the issue. The article "All Colin Kaepernick ever did was ask" offers a critically evaluated rhetoric on the issue as the author maneuvers through the ethical, logical and emotional dimensions. The storyline of the "take a knee" initiative, so to call it, by the quarterback, Kaepernick was a gesture of a protest against the social and criminal injustices directed towards the blacks, and hence a bold signal against police brutality. The critique by Bruenig offers a different and unique point of view yet, and through the use of statistics, historical encounters, and the appropriate utilization of tones and emotions that deserves critical and rhetorical analysis.

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The commencement of the article presents a form of sarcasm as the United States government is presented as a government that solely cares for the wellbeing and rights of every single American citizen (Bruenig). To an audience that is already familiarized with Colin Kaepernick's issue, it is apparent that the sentiment is misplaced. It is also revealed that the unfair and unjust systems that exist within the American social and criminal systems are laid strongly from the foundations of the government, and hence the mention of the emphasis of the great nation America is, as from the elementary level. Therefore, this places the quarterback athlete's actions on the right side of the issue as he takes a stand in solidarity of a minority race that is only familiarized with violence, mistreatment, and social inequality, all roots of the now mature American government. The author, therefore, aligns herself with the side that acknowledges the injustice that is conveniently furnished as justice.

The piece of literature triggers a great deal of logic, from the well-presented arguments, the deeply sighted opinions, and critically selected vocabulary. The approach of the national football league, NFL, is described as one of "grim determination." This translates to stern, and extremely serious commitment against the alleged disrespect and unpatriotic that the kneeling scenes proved. However, a presentation of a few yet critical statistics on the issue, pertaining the funding of the NFL, seven million dollars to be precise, brings the ironical bit of the entire saga, as it logically seems as if the united states government, through the Pentagon, was paying the NFL for the respect it patriotically owes to the government. Therefore, the entire restriction of standing during the anthem imposed on the players is as ironic as the forced or rather bought submissions, and the author adds up to this irony commenting, "So I guess it must be love, not money, driving this latest spasm of patriotic fervor" (Bruenig). The channel through which such a stipulation was synthesized keeps adding the beef to the skeleton that is the broken and unjust American system since the players were not consulted or involved in the decision making.

The authors appeal to the emotions of the minority group that are the genesis of the matter, by acknowledging that there is a racial component within the controversial kneeling acts. It all lies within the misaligned obsession of the American governments to publicly humiliate and punish the African Americans. The author even uses the word bizarre to describe the involvement of the United States president, Donald Trump in the issue, a word that means strange and unusual. It was hence uncalled for. There also comes in the defense on the act of kneeling, which as the opinion put it, was not just a protest but a plea. This is in agreement with a professor's analogy presenting kneeling as a sign of helplessness and submission. Therefore, the cost of the actions against the kneeling was too much, yet all that Kaepernick ever did was ask.

Conclusion

It was not strange that the author chose to tackle the controversial kneeling of the NFL athletes during the singing of the national anthem, as this topic has had a particularly unique appeal to some authors, writers, and bloggers. However, this article presented a unique pattern in the presentation of the ethical, logical and emotional aspects of this issue. First comes the untainted alignment with the action of the athletes, and in particular Colin Kaepernick, pointing the American system as the trigger for such actions. Then comes the logical appeal of the article as the author bombards the audience with logical opinions and statistics to sway and convince them of the argument she presents. Lastly is the emotional aspect that offers an empathetic view of the issue. She offers a defense on the actions of the athlete as not being a protest but rather a plea.

Work cited

Bruenig E. All Colin Kaepernick ever did was ask. The Washington Post. May 23, 2018.Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/nfl-kneeling-isnt-just-a-protest-its-a plea/2018/05/23/a2768b5c-5ec5-11e8-a4a4