For months now NFL players have been taking a knee for the national anthem. Many people have started to do it when Donald Trump was elected for President. Many of the athletes in the NFL are African American and when Trump tweeted out about taking a knee, the athletes didn't want to obey someone who is labelled racist.
The NFL Players just wanted to show their loyalty to their country. However one person who thinks there is only one way to honour a country forbids the NFL players to honour their country one way. From I have read an NFL player took a knee during the national anthem to promote/protest on police brutality and abuse on the black community. Many people have protested against this action of kneeling saying that it does not honour to the country and it does not show allegiance to the flag. Colin Kaepernick was one of the first athletes to be called out for kneeling during the national anthem Since then, Kaepernick was signed off from the NFL and he then filed a lawsuit against the NFL. Since then athletes in the NFL and other sports have kneeled down during the national anthem. Even athletes in Canada are kneeling during their national anthem. When Trump tweeted his thoughts about kneeling during the National Anthem, the situation got more worse and the protests got bigger to show even bigger messages of freedom and other things.
In my opinion you should have the freedom to be in any position during the national anthem, as long as it honours the country and salutes to the flag. I feel it was unreasonable for Trump to tell people the only way to honour the country through the national anthem is by standing. I've witnessed many people sitting and kneeling during national anthems because they feel it is right. In Canada the national anthem's lyrics are "O, Canada, we Stand on guard for thee." These lyrics can be a reason why we should stand during a national anthem. The American national anthem does not say anything about standing up or standing proud so people in the U.S.A should be able to be in any position they want. I also feel the people who are against the kneeling protest don't really get the message on why they are kneeling. They're kneeling for rights and freedom which should be in all countries with no excuse. Overall I feel there is no proper way of honouring your country during the national anthem. People have their own ways and beliefs to live in the country they live in and they should all be respected without excluding anyone.
Adrian I really like your stance on how this debate on whether kneeling during the anthem is very stubborn. The people who say kneeling is disrespectful during the anthem are just prohibiting the freedom of speech of those kneeling. Like you said they are being very hypocritical in trying to rid the NFL of players who kneel during the anthem at games.
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