On September 2, 2016, quarterback Colin Kaepernick, at the time a San Francisco 49er, decided to use his platform as an NFL player and take a stand against racial profiling and police brutality of African-Americans. He did this by taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem before the kickoff of the game. Usually, people stand during the national anthem as a sign of patriotism and respect for the flag and country, but Colin chose not to. He wanted to be the voice of the voiceless. He wanted to bring attention to what he thought was an injustice in America. He thought that the killings of innocent black Americans, like Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, and Eric Garner (just to name a few) were misreported by the media, and that white police
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His messages were received with both positivity and negativity. Some people felt that him kneeling during the anthem was a blatant disrespect to the men and women who have fought and died for the flag. They said he didn’t care about the military, veterans, or the country. While in fact, some veterans supported his decision to use his first amendment rights and peacefully protest something he believed in. His supporters, however, took his message as a wake-up call. They looked at him as a hero for finding the strength and courage to start a controversial conversation. Regardless of your viewpoint on the situation, he started a much-needed conversation between citizens of the United States. The topics of police brutality and racial profiling were something that had been only glanced over in the news when someone had been killed. Now, Colin was trying to make this discussion an important …show more content…
First, kneeling for the anthem was an act of deviance towards the traditional norm of standing during the national anthem. Colin was the first person to ever do something like this. He chose the anthem because everyone would recognize it and him, and then they would be reminded of his message. Some people felt he was being extremely disrespectful to the soldiers and veterans who had fought and died for his freedom to even be an NFL player. They were angry because he went against the expectation compared to what the citizen was thought to do during the anthem, which is stand, not kneel. Deviance isn’t the only sociological analogy we can give his
His messages were received with both positivity and negativity. Some people felt that him kneeling during the anthem was a blatant disrespect to the men and women who have fought and died for the flag. They said he didn’t care about the military, veterans, or the country. While in fact, some veterans supported his decision to use his first amendment rights and peacefully protest something he believed in. His supporters, however, took his message as a wake-up call. They looked at him as a hero for finding the strength and courage to start a controversial conversation. Regardless of your viewpoint on the situation, he started a much-needed conversation between citizens of the United States. The topics of police brutality and racial profiling were something that had been only glanced over in the news when someone had been killed. Now, Colin was trying to make this discussion an important …show more content…
First, kneeling for the anthem was an act of deviance towards the traditional norm of standing during the national anthem. Colin was the first person to ever do something like this. He chose the anthem because everyone would recognize it and him, and then they would be reminded of his message. Some people felt he was being extremely disrespectful to the soldiers and veterans who had fought and died for his freedom to even be an NFL player. They were angry because he went against the expectation compared to what the citizen was thought to do during the anthem, which is stand, not kneel. Deviance isn’t the only sociological analogy we can give his