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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 2017)
To BY SAM W ESTON PHOTO EDITOR Or Not To W ' In the past month, jh e country has i been arguing [over NFL play ers kneeling during the na tional anthem to prtotest police brutality. The protest started with Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49rs during the start of the 2016 season when he began to sit- while the anthem played. After much criticism, he began to kneel becasue it showed more respect for veterans. Many followed suit and began to . kneel alongside Kaepernick, and it spread throughout the league and beyond. ■While this may seem like a quiet, calm protest to you, it was not taken well by many fans and disbelievers o f what they were protesting. While some of you think that what they re doing is wrong and disrespectful, I believe that what he was doing is in fact a patriotic and noble thing to do. If they were to be punished, it would go against everything that this coun try stands for and everything our vets; fought for. People have been offended by these protests for many reasons but the big one that keeps getting thrown around is they are disrespecting the flag, the national anthem and the veterans. I disagree. First off the whole idea of kneeling is to respect veterans and their service. I believe that a lot of people are using this as an excuse to disagree with what they are protesting because they end up arguing that they are paid millions of dollars to play a game and should stop complaining. Yes, these players are paid to play this game, and yes they are employees of the league and the teams, but it’s so much more than that. They represent not just the teams but the communi ties they are from and the culture they were raised in. This isn’t a normal job they have. Clackamas Print They are more than just employees. They are heroes. They give their fans hope and joy in their lives and all they are trying to do is bring hope into the black community that they are standing with them and trying to end injustice in this country, but many people don’t believe in this injustice and flat out ignore it. Racism exists in this country and all these players are trying to say is we want to be acknowledged and put in motion to be improved. While I agree that some are doing this for attention and not because they agree with the cause but the overall support for the cause is to help. Racism has been disputed for more than a century in this coun try and we are still arguing that it even exists. While I would argue that ignoring the problem and the fact that it exists is in fact part of the problem, I won’t go as far as saying that anyone that does so is a racist because this country has gone through a huge wave of labeling cer tain political parties as racist, which is wrong and in no way helping but I digress. Protests have always been aw ay to get messages across and this one is no different in that and unfortunate ly it is being received that way. Just look at some notable peaceful pro tests of similar caliber. Rosa Parks sitting on the bus, the Selma March in Alabama, and the famous March on Washington. Unfortunately, King’s dream has yet to be achieved. These athletes have every right to protest and argue that minorities are being targeted and profiled by our law enforcement. If you disagree with their reasoning, fine but in no way should this be considered disrespectful or wrong in terms of their job description because they’re more than just an employee, they’re symbols of hope to anyone watching the game. It has b een over a year since th e NFL and fans, everyw here W atched. th e n 49ers \ q u a rterb ack , C olin K aep ern ick , kneel d u rin g th e - N atio n al A n th em s o he could tak e a sta n d fo r so m eth in g he b elieves in. K aep ern ick used his p latfo rm to p ro te st police b ru ta lity and th e o p p ressio n of m in o ritie s. The issue has now grow n to so m eth in g o th e r th a n w hat K aep ern ick began w ith. As an A m erican I am p ro u d o f my c o u n try and my flag. I am also p ro u d th a t h ig h -p ro file ath letes are able to p ro te st and sp eak up for a cause th a t th ey believe in. In my eyes th e issue is no lo n g er ab o u t w hat K aep ern ick set o u t to b rin g a tte n tio n to. Last season K aep ern ick was on ly jo in e d by his team m ates E ric R eid and Eli H aro ld , all th ree w ho b elieved in th e sam e cause. Now We see e n tire team s p ro tectin g th e an th em , b u t to me th ey are no lo n g er doing it for th e rig h t reaso n s. W ith th e p o litical clim ate in a state o f u n re st, players are n o lo n g er p ro te stin g for th e ir causes, b u t th ey are u sin g it to d isresp ect th e p re s id e n t o f th e U n ited States m o re th a n an y th in g . To be c le a r in n o way is th is an article to p ro te c t o r d efen d P resid en t D o n ald T rum p, th is is ab o u t u sin g y o u r p latfo rm an d p ow er in a m ore p ro fe s sio n al way. I believe NFL play- ers sh o u ld c o n tin u e p ro testin g , b u t in a d iffe re n t fash io n . The b iggest d iscrep an cy is n o t in th e act o f p ro te st from theclackam asprint.net th e players b u t ir rth e way th ey are d o in g it. T hey are using th e ir p latfo rm to b rin g p o liti cal arg u m en ts to a place w here p o litics sh o u ld be set aside for at least a m o m en t w hen a th letes step on th e field. I do believe th a t players have a v ery u n iq u e p latfo rm to voice th e ir issues w ith law e n fo rce m en t and p o litic a l figures, b u t th o se issues sh o u ld be b ro u g h t up in o th e r ways. Lik$ in th e way th a t D oug B aldw in and NFL co m m issio n er Roger G o o d ell cam e to g e th e r to w rite ab o u t th e ir su p p o rt of c rim i nal ju stice refo rm in a le tte r to C ongress. If th e NFL p ushed to show u n ity b etw een players and ow ners we co uld a c tu a l ly move fo rw ard and create change in o u r co m m unities. I also believe th a t players can c o n tin u e to p ro te st w hile in u n ifo rm o r on th e field m uch , like how Tom m ie Sm ith and John C arlos in th e 1968 O lym pics. T hey w ere able to show stre n g th and u n ity w ith o u t d isresp ectin g th e flag and a cou n try . M any o f th e players in the NFL are yet to m ake an effo rt to see change in o u r country, w hich is th e larg est problem i j w ith th e p ro tests. The NFL need s a clear stance on th e an th em p ro te sts in stead o f allow ing th e ir fans and su p p o rte rs to w alk away from the sp o rt as a w hole. Agree? Diasagree? Let us know on Twitter! V @ClackamasPrint OCTOBER 25, 2017
