Between October of 2016 and April of 2017, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick attempts to fight against inequality, promote against police brutality, and wishes to bring awareness of racism alongside with the Black Lives Matter group. Just like Kaepernick, there are many athletes, such as NBA star athletes Derrick Rose, LeBron James, and Kyrie Irving whom all have the same intention for spreading awareness. However, the sports industry would try to keep politics out of any sports game just to prevent political chaos; such as making sure that their star athletes, especially the African Americans, would keep quiet about any certain controversial topic. As Kaepernick only had pure intention to just bring up some awareness and spread good to the …show more content…
After all the relentless efforts to bring awareness for the racially diverse, this failed attempt had brought so much misfortunate remarks and complaints about the 49ers quarterback. Though besides the seemingly meaningless efforts of Kaepernick, many sports writers have confronted about the philosophy of the American flag and the National Anthem. Just like how the second article explained, “Unfortunately for Calcaterra, saluting the flag is not as political as turning one’s back on it, because the flag itself isn’t political. Rather, the flag stands for the American ideal, and while we can all disagree about how well we have lived up to the principles comprising that ideal, only extremists would decry the principles themselves.” (Smith 4). Comparing the second article to the first, the second one not only confronts about Kaepernick’s failed attempt of promoting racial equality. The second piece of writing had ended the paragraphs with a much more thought provoking philosophy about the history and facts of the American flag. The piece of writing not only had try to become open-minded about the angry public’s opinion and reaction of the failed protest, but also still acknowledging the concept of the refusal to stand for the National Anthem. The contrast of
In a generation focused on social justice and the elimination of prejudice from our society, there is still a use of offensive language and terminology in the area of professional sports. In “The Indian Wars” by S. L. Price, Price attempts to make the reader aware of sports teams that use derogatory terms as their team name and their mascot. He does this by highlighting football, and trying to determine whether Native-Americans are offended by team names in sports, or more specifically, the Redskins. Price’s essay is ineffective because although he raises good points, he doesn’t help the reader to form an opinion by adding historical context to the derogatory names used. He also uses inaccurate poll results to make assumptions about the feelings
The Odessa football players couldn't be objective about criticisms of football. Their total self-esteem depended on how they did on Friday night. This was the glorified culmination of their football career: wearing the black MoJo uniform in the stadium under the big lights. Football was more than just a game to them; it was a religion. It "made them seem like boys going off to fight a war for the benefit of someone else, unwitting sacrifices to a strange and powerful god" (Bissinger, p.11). Because football was so meaningful in their lives, to criticize it was to criticize everything they'd worked so hard for and lived for.
“Because the flag still stands for freedom and they can’t take that away. And I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free.” The touching and moving lyrics that come from the mouth of Lee Greenwood every 4th of July are a constant reminder of the hardships our nation has endured solely to give us the right to be individuals. The right to express our opinions freely and practice the religion of our choice. But why do we, as Americans, still struggle to agree on what these basic types of freedom’s look like? What does it truly mean to be an American? Does this view change based on our religion? Many different historians have weighed in on this topic over the years, but award winning journalist, Colin Woodard, lays out an argument
Wesley Morris feels that Colin Kaepernick is protesting a different type of patriotism. Wesley Morris states " When a black American protests the demoalizing practices of American government, there is always a white person eager to unfurl the welcome mat to Africa. This is where racism and patriotism tend to point: toward the exits. For some, we learn, being American is conditional oh behaving like a grateful guest: You belong here because we tolerate your presence. We don't yet appear to have settled the matter of citizenship - not even for our president, another black man backhandedly accused of harboring terrorist sympathies." In paragraph 5 this quote demonstrates that Wesley Morris is irritated because African Americans tend to cause a
Smith and Carlos were then able to walk off the field but it just got worse, “the shock was gone and it was officially getting ugly” (Carlos 121). The audience started to yell at them and called them “anti-American” (Carlos 121). Because of the social setting, people did not understand the purpose of what they were doing or what it had represented. There was ta...
The dissenting opinion to the previous idea is that the government's legitimate interest in preserving the symbolic value of the flag is, however, essentially the same that may have motivated a particular act of flag burning. The flag uniquely symbolizes the ideas of liberty, equality, and tolerance -- ideas that Americans have passionately defended and debated throughout our history. The flag embodies the spirit of our national commitment to those ideals. To the world, the flag is our promise that we will continue to strive for these ideals. To us, the flag is a reminder both that the struggle for li...
As an American and a NFL fan, I have lost some respect for Colin Kaepernick, not as a quarterback but as a person. I feel that he can make a greater impact on the fight against police brutality by protesting (civilly) in his free time and donating a large portion of his $114 million NFL contract. I understand that this might
The Civil Rights Movement was an act in the 1950’s and 1960’s in which African Americans tried to achieve civil rights equal to whites. During this time, there was definite tension; African Americans were nonviolently protesting for their rights. In the movie Remember the Titans, The Civil Rights Movement ties in because of bussing black and white neighbourhoods together, also causing the football team, The Titans to come together. The linebacker on the team, Gerry Bertier represents a good and fair captain in these feuding times, for he accepted the African Americans deeply after some bonding exercises. The essay will persuade the reader that Gerry Bertier was a good and fair captain because (1) he didn’t tolerate others not treating African Americans on the team well, (2) he shows leadership and responsibility throughout the team, (3) and he stayed motivated.
“The land of the free and home of the brave,” the infamous line from America’s national anthem, Star-Spangled Banner, but how much did this ring truth for African-Americans in the Civil Rights Era? On October 16, 1968, gold medalist Tommie Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos challenged “the false vision of what it meant to be black in America.” (Pg. 108, John Carlos story) Although John Carlos and Tommie Smith ridiculed and ostracized because of their defiant act, which respectfully recognized as an iconic, powerful image labeled as the “black power salute” in the summer Olympics of 1968 in Mexico City. Carlos and Smith used the Olympics’ medal ceremony stage to challenge and bring recognition to the racism within sports and the United States in a silent gesture. This significant moment of their act of bravery, courage and willingness to sacrifice their sport careers and life to call attention to the segregation, racism and white supremacy back home for those who did not have a platform. “Smith and Carlos opened a unique symbolic space for dialogue and debate about these issues.” (Pg. 26, Douglas Hartmann) Without saying a single word, they captured the nation’s attention.
Privilege is thinking something is not a problem because it’s not a problem to someone personally. It’s difficult to see a situation for what it is when it’s not specifically affecting a person. In the article “Indian mascots — you’re out,” author Jack Shakely discusses that the cultural appropriation of Native American mascots in college and professional sports teams is treated like a minuscule matter, but removing the mascots would be “the right thing to do.” Shakely expounds his first experience of conflict with his background and supporting the Cleveland Indians. The article is an opinion piece from Los Angeles Times, published on August 25, 2011. Although it isn’t recent, it’s indubitably timely. The appropriation of Native American culture
It seemed that the majority of Americans disagreed on how they were doing it. That they use sports as a get away from the real world, a three to four hour break from reality and all of the problems that might be going on in their own lives. Most people that you talk to that disagree with the protest all say the same thing. “If I did something like that at work I would get fired, it is a double standard”. “When you protest the American flag, you are disrespecting our troops”.
The article seems argumentative to me. The writer is clearly trying to placate the audience who agrees with him by only presenting his point of view. The article comes across as brash, condescending, and short-sighted. I believe that the reason Kaepernick remains unsigned by an NFL team is a result of a sub-par quarterback asking for starting quarterback pay which no team wants to pay with all of the baggage he brings – kneeling for the National Anthem and negative attention that comes with it. Famed quarterback, Joe Montana, is on record comparing Kaepernick’s football skills to Tim Tebow’s football skills. Tim Tebow is no longer in the NFL. In June, the Seattle Seahawks said that they “…and Kaepernick were ‘apart on money.’” Just over
The opinion piece,The “Athlete as Agent of Change,” by Lione Bunch and David Skorton, discusses how athletes try to express their feelings about the world by peaceful protests, but in return they only get negative comments and can potentially lose their job. One example of this evil hatred was on a 21-year-old senior guard on the Manhattanville College women's basketball team named Toni Smith. After the Iraq war in 2003 she expressed her opinion by turning her back to the flag. In paragraph 3 it states,”The history of protest in sports, much like that across society, holds many lessons for us that we can apply to the nation's current anger.” This statement states that throughout the generations of sports there has
In a society filled with people that strongly believe that sports is an industry that is removed and immune from the ills of the world—racism. Many fans and spectators of sports, such as baseball, basketball, football, and many other sports that include players of different races and ethnicities considers that racism is a thing of the past because of the inclusion and acceptance of all races in different sports. However, the misconception of living in a post-racial (colorblind) world is prevalent. Even though racial discrimination in sports and society in general, are not overt as in the past, racism continues to plague the industry. Regardless of fans and spectators wanting to ignore the racial biases and discrimination in the sports industry,
"Politics has come to be considered not only inappropriate in the arena of sports, but actually antithetical to it," Zirin says. "We want so much to see sports solely as an arena of play, not seriousness. But here's the thing, this can cheapen not only the greatness and relevance of sports to us as a society, but also the courage of the athletes" . The pursuit of fame, wealth and status can blind the human conscience, which is why it is important for us to encourage athletes to voice their opinions. As a nation, we should not silence our athletes, because it is the truly courageous athletes who have the audacity to stand up when it is socially unacceptable. Sports should be used as a platform for a certain kind of politics such as militarism, nationalism and human rights. A few athletes stand out as political advocates of their time who were not afraid to express their opinions: Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson, and Billie-Jean King. There is a rich tradition of resistance to politics in sports, but their actions have been integral to country’s struggle for racial and gender equality; sports are a safe place to discuss these difficult topics and therefore is essential.