NFL Protests

The United States was built through people throughout the years disagreeing with each other such as the Boston Massacre. Some people thought the British soldiers were at fault and some thought the citizens were at fault. The protests done by a large amount of NFL problems is causing a stir between the people, some think the protesting is unpatriotic and some think protesting the flag is the right thing to do. The NFL players protesting have a constitutional right to protest the flag and if they are not allowed to protest then that is taking away their first amendment rights. Many people do not understand why NFL players are protesting and that could be why people are outraged towards their actions. Colin Kaepernick, the player who started
kneeling, says "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” Kaepernick feels as if the colored people of America are not being treated in the right way. The kneeling has gone even further now due to President Trump’s comments stating that any player that kneels during the anthem, should be fired. These comments outraged a large portion of NFL players causing many players to sit, stand, stay in the locker room or locking arms with other teammates. Many people believe that the NFL players are disrespecting the flag but the players have a constitutional right. According to the Constitution of America, the government cannot make laws that interfere with the people’s freedom of speech. What the players are doing do not go against the constitution yet many individuals think they are not allowed to protest the flag. This protest is like any other peaceful protest such as marching for a cause. No one is physically getting hurt by the protests. The protests done by the players are completely peaceful with no violence involved. No one is breaking the law and no one is getting killed by the actions of the players. If the players were actually going into the streets and using violence to voice their opinion, then many more people would be against the players kneeling during the anthem. The players are using their platform to voice their opinion and exercising their rights just as any other citizen is allowed to. President Trump even tweeted out in January that he encourages peaceful protests, but now he has a different opinion on players peacefully protesting the flag. NFL players should be allowed to skip the anthem. If the constitution allows freedom of speech and expression then there should be no problems in players expression their opinions. If anyone were to get hurt by the peaceful protests, then there could be a problem but, nobody is getting hurt. Voicing opinions is what America is about, everyone has an opinion and if someone thinks they are being hurt, then he/she could speak out because the constitution allows freedom of speech.