Should Athletes Be Allowed to Kneel During the National Anthem? Essay

Police brutality and disrespect to black people has always been a hot-button topic across the world. Needless of the concern raised by most activists around the globe, the US nation has faced challenges arising from the most prominent NFL players who hold a protest on behalf of the brutal actions on un-armed Asian Americans, Black Americans, and Indian Americans. The knee protest has proven to deprive the respect needed when the US national anthem is played due to disrespect to minority groups (Mindock, 2018). Taking a knee has become a protest that might be considered to be the best approach towards clearing the unending struggle for the minority groups facing brutality which is portrayed widely by police in the US. Pulling a trigger on the grounds of race, creed or language is unethical thus it is a high time for the athletes to join the unending protest during the playing of the national anthem. Mindock (2018) outlined that "athletes have always used their platform for protest from the past" thus it is a moral concern to allow the protest to involve athletes as a way of arriving at the desired change in the whole world. This paper seeks to prove that without a robust struggle like the athletes being allowed to join the knee protests, the war on police brutality, the political fight against minority groups, segregation and manhandling of unarmed black people will not end any time soon.

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Mindock, C. (2018) outlined that Kaepernick, an NFL player who took a knee during the national anthem was chosen as an ambassador of Nike's 'Just Do It' campaign. The protester has attained his 36th anniversary in the battle thus proving the fact that athletes should also be allowed to take part in the unending campaign to reclaim the worth and respect to minority groups and rogue political system that the US is running. The article outlined that NFL has been reluctant to take him due to his controversial gesture that seems to venture politics into sports. Sports rules try as much as possible to protect the dignity and the sense of equality. For that matter, it is a good idea to allow athletes to protest against any action that seems to be affecting the goal of arriving at a nation that values each and upholds equality in rights.

The utterance of the US president Donald Trump during his campaign in Alabama portrays that there is the need for a mass protest against the plight of saving the lives of unarmed black people in America. The statement that "the owner [who fires an NFL player [ will be the most popular person in this country" carries a heavyweight of impunity and praising disrespect to humanity in the name of a country (Mindock, 2018). The involvement of athletes in the controversial topic of divisive politics especially on equality counts does not portray that the athletes are taking sides. The main point to be driven home is the fact that humanity is greater than a country, political ambition or any politician's ambition. An example of an athlete who took a stand against impunity against black men is Muhammad Ali. His position ended up in a jail term, but the fact came out clear that cruelty on Black people should not be given a chance to sprout in a nation (ProCon.org., 2018). Collective bargaining mandate can be violated by not allowing athletes to take part in knee protests amid burying the fight against inequality and violence against minority groups.

Athletes are the right people who can help the world to arrive at the best opinion towards the need to reach on equality grounds for humankind. The celebrity stunt that athletes hold can help in shaping people's view of humanity and resurface the ethnic differences that are mostly considered to be a measure of superiority (ProCon.org., 2018). The value of understanding is better than respect for a nation that fails to recognize the worth of its inhabitants. Since the United States is not living up to the ideal practices that portray to be in line with coming up with freedom, justice for all, liberty and liberty, then the refusal of athletes to stand during the American anthem is appropriate until the time that morality will be a common sense to the nation. The protest against the American nation by athletes is a viable and essential strategy towards preceding the celebrity stunt of the athletes towards coming up with a solution for the need of respect to black people and people of color. An icon, a role model to many and a person who everyone would like to be identified with is the most viable person to enable a point to be driven home (ProCon.org., 2018). This way, the involvement of athletes in the knee protests should be left to take effect as a quick way of constraining American people to come up with a quick solution to the problems that have never been solved.

On the contrary opinion, Knee protests have sparked the protesters drive public debate concerning the message. The action of Kaepernick in 2016 has brought about a series of demonstrations against standing during the American anthem thus questioning the efficacy of the act by athletes who are an icon to the whole world. It has come to the public notice that high school athletes, professional athletes, and professional footballers have lately joined the protest thus making the issue to a controversy to the whole world (Kearney, 2017). The fact that refusing to stand for the national anthem portrays that an individual is disrespectful to the power of the armed forces counts for the action of knee protest. The national anthem is an ideal practice that is used to show respect for the American people who sacrificed to safeguard the dignity and power of the nation.

Conclusion

In summation, it has been proven beyond doubt that without a robust struggle like the athletes being allowed to join the knee protests, the war on police brutality, the political war against minority groups, segregation and manhandling of unarmed blacks and people of color will not end any time soon. Therefore, the fight against the brutality of the police towards people with color and blacks can be solved by allowing athletes to take part in the knee protests. Athletes should be supported to enable the knee protest to go an extra mile across America. Lastly, an involvement of athletes in the knee protests should be left to take effect as a quick way of constraining American people to come up with a quick solution to the problems that have never been solved.

References

Kearney, R. (2017). Every NFL Player Should Kneel for the National Anthem Today. The News Republic. Retrieved from https://newrepublic.com/minutes/144975/every-nfl-player-kneel-national-anthem-today

Mindock, C. (2018). Taking a Knee: Why are NFL Players Protesting and When did they Start to Kneel? Athletes have often used their platform to protest. The Independent US, New York. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/taking-a-knee-national-anthem-nfl-trump-why-meaning-origins-racism-us-colin-kaepernick-a8521741.html

ProCon.org. (2018). Refusing to Stand for the National Anthem: Top 3 Pros and Cons. ProCon.Org. Retrieved from https://www.procon.org/headline.php?headlineID=005323