Perhaps it’s the history tied to the National Anthem that creates social expectations for professional athletes, and Americans in general, to partake in the patriotism that the song exudes centuries after it was written. Choosing to sit out the tradition seems to make a statement, a very bold one.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick made a bold statement himself Friday night when he chose to sit out the National Anthem at Levi's Stadium. Kaepernick explained his intentions in an interview with NFL media after the preseason loss to Green Bay, "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”
He took his opportunity to communicate a “Black Lives Matters” message in the largest way he saw possible, “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."
Kaepernick isn’t the first to skip an American tradition that our country …show more content…
Perhaps its official notoriety took place 1889, when the Secretary of the Navy had it ordered to play during the raising of the flag. Or it could be argued that it was in 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson ordered for it to be played during that it be played at all military ceremonies
When World War 1 was beginning, so was MLB’s patriotic spectacles, which of course have found their way into nearly every sporting event since. Taking a seat during the song communicates not standing with the nation that the song was written for. Which of course, quickly catches
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick made a bold statement himself Friday night when he chose to sit out the National Anthem at Levi's Stadium. Kaepernick explained his intentions in an interview with NFL media after the preseason loss to Green Bay, "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”
He took his opportunity to communicate a “Black Lives Matters” message in the largest way he saw possible, “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."
Kaepernick isn’t the first to skip an American tradition that our country …show more content…
Perhaps its official notoriety took place 1889, when the Secretary of the Navy had it ordered to play during the raising of the flag. Or it could be argued that it was in 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson ordered for it to be played during that it be played at all military ceremonies
When World War 1 was beginning, so was MLB’s patriotic spectacles, which of course have found their way into nearly every sporting event since. Taking a seat during the song communicates not standing with the nation that the song was written for. Which of course, quickly catches