Kneeling During The National Anthem Essay

Kneeling during the national anthem is a form of peacefully protesting instead of choosing to stay silent and not have a voice. Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick who is currently a free agent brought the attention to “kneeling during the national anthem” when he decided to take a knee during a preseason game. Him kneeling brought an uproar of people who believed he was being “disrespectful” and “unpatriotic”, others believed he was being “brave” and a “hero”. Kaepernick had a reason for doing so, he was standing up for social justice and police brutality again African Americans. Significance of The Flag The colors of the flag all having different meanings and represent freedom, pride, and justice. Many people only pay attention to the colors of the flag but forget about the stars and stripes, they have significant meanings also. The stripes represent the 13 colonies in the United States and the stars represent the 50 states. When the Founding Fathers were trying to put together a seal for the United States

When you are kneeling you’re acting in a nonverbal way and aren’t harming others, it is considered non-threatening and can be considered instead of disrespectful as respectful. Kaepernick once said “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color” (Snopes), indicates that he indeed has a reason for his kneeling and has the right to feel the way he does. He begins to receive shaming because of this but others came to his defense and pointed out how in the national anthem slavery is celebrated. In the third stanza of the national anthem, “No refuge could save the hireling and slave, from the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave- “this phrase referred to the black slaves that played a part in the War of 1812 to fight with the