Professional Athletes Should Be Allowed To Protests

What would you do if your voice could be used to impact millions in a positive or negative way? Would you make an effort to paint a picture of a righteous act or way of living that others should follow? Although numerous times, some of sport’s best athletes have done this in the past, one athlete, Colin Kaepernick, has earned quite the public response after he chose not to stand up during the national anthem. Some people argue that sports is not a time for protesting and politics. However, professional athletes should be allowed to use their status or position to protest events taking place today. These athletes who are protesting are just like any other American, raising their voices to let unjustified acts be known. The only exception is that these athletes are protesting on a higher scale because of their fame. For example, President Obama has recently addressed this topic and said, “They have dared to hold a mirror up to the rest of us, urging us to do better as a nation. It is our loss if we refuse to listen.” Athletes aren’t encouraging violence, but instead challenging us to look at what kind of country we are today and the problems we have. However because of this, many people refuse to listen. Many people aren’t thinking about what the protest might mean,
Many times in protest, people take matters into their own hands and go to the extremes, which only escalates the problem further. If the same thing happened in sports, everyone would be watching. However, to those who aren’t aware of the topic of controversy, they might be inspired to start raising awareness about a problem. Voicing conflicts and issues on a bigger stage can increase awareness of a problem. If a simple act of protest, such as not standing up for the national anthem, is shunned, then how an other Americans feel safe to voice their opinions