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