Essay Example on Athletes for Change: The Power of Sports for Social Change

Introduction

It is right to use sporting events as venues for protest (Chaplin and de Oca, 2019). Athlete activism is allowed and has been happening all around the world. Athletes use their platform to foster dialogue and raise awareness about inequality and injustice issues hence bringing social change (Chaplin and de Oca, 2019). Protests during athletic competition have been around for a long time as both arenas of sport as acted as a venue where people's voices could be heard. Also, displeasure exists in the state of affairs that are registered (Chaplin and de Oca, 2019).

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Is Kneeling During the National Anthem an Acceptable Behavior for Players? Is it Disrespectful to Country or those who fought or Serve now or before?

A veteran is someone who has served in the military or the armed forces (Collins, 2019). The military is the people who fight for a country and protect its borders from enemies. During the national anthem, according to the federal law of 1998, everybody should stand with hand on the heart and face the flag, and military members, together with veterans, should remain to salute throughout (Collins, 2019). Kneeling during the national anthem started with the anarchist Emma Goldman supporters, and it has been common since World War 1 (Collins, 2019). Kneeling during the national anthem is calling for attention towards police brutality and racial inequality. According to the law, it is wrong to kneel during the national anthem, and some people feel offended by the action, but it depends on an individual perspective view as it is a way of airing the voice of the oppressed to bring change to the country (Collins, 2019). The reason for kneeling being valid; the military and the veterans should be able to understand not get offended as it is a form of peaceful protest.

Can Organizations Bar Player Protests in Contracts or Scholarships?

Freedom of speech cannot be abridged by the national government, according to the first amendment restriction (Chaplin and de Oca, 2019). Either the players being workers of private employers will work according to terms and conditions issued at hiring; hence they leave their rights of speech at the door making the employers capable of restricting their protests (Chaplin and de Oca, 2019). When a player is being given a contract or a scholarship, some terms and conditions are agreed upon hence restriction of their speeches due to being under the rule of the employer (Chaplin and de Oca, 2019).Are their Organizations, Leagues where Protests should not be allowed? Why or why not? Comment on Youth, High School, College, Professional and Olympics.

Due to the long history of racism in athletic competitions, the protest should not be opposed by any sporting organization (Bass, 2020). In this century, equality should be promoted, and freedom for complaint should also be allowed. The revolt of the black athlete that started in the late 1960s for black Olympic activism has paved the way for the activism that is happening now (Bass, 2020). On Youth, High School, College, Professional, and also Olympics, there have been many racism cases and segregation; hence should be allowed to state the concern for equality and unity for a peaceful world (Bass, 2020).

Are Companies and Athletes, who make Money from these Companies, and Support the Social Injustice Movement being Complicit in Supporting Protests when Countries who make their Goods have Squashed Protest and Workers are in Deplorable Factories and Conditions?

The players and companies are not being complicit while supporting the protests (Bass, 2020). Their actions are giving light to the world and showing that people can come together and demand change and better treatment. The athlete’s actions may give power and courage to the employees who make their goods and have been oppressed in the factories to come together and demand their rights, too (Bass, 2020). The athletic platform is a very big platform to speak for the oppressed, as sports is a very big venture with billions of followers. The actions of the players will lead to their fans following in the same gestures, which will lead to global change at the end (Bass, 2020).

References

Bass, A. B. (2020). From Raised Fists to Bended Knees: Fifty Years of The Revolt of the Black Athlete. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jofolympstud.1.1.0081

Chaplin, K. S., & de Oca, J. M. (2019). Avoiding the issue: University students’ responses to NFL players’ national anthem protests. Sociology of Sport Journal, 36(1), 12-21. https://journals.humankinetics.com/downloadpdf/journals/ssj/36/1/article-p12.pdf?pdfJsInlineViewToken=453431302&inlineView=true

Collins, D. S. (2019). A study of the Kansas City Chiefs crisis communication during the national anthem protests. https://mospace.umsystem.edu/xmlui/handle/10355/70132