The Anthem Debate

Should professional athletes be allowed to kneel in protest when the national anthem is performed before a game? President Donald Trump thinks the answer is no, and that’s sparked a nationwide debate about patriotism, free speech, and race relations.

At a September political rally in Alabama, the president called on National Football League (NFL) team owners to fire players who refuse to stand when the anthem is played before games. 

Trump’s remarks—and his tweets in the days that followed—generated a wave of protests and defiance on the sidelines of America’s most popular sport. 

What had been a small number of demonstrations by a handful of black football players to draw attention to issues such as police brutality quickly grew into nationwide protests. 

On September 24, nearly all the players on three teams—the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Tennessee Titans, and the Seattle Seahawks—stayed off the field until the anthem was over. Players and coaches on dozens of other teams knelt or locked arms during the anthem in dramatic displays of team unity. Many condemned Trump for being divisive. 

“To have the president trying to intimidate people—I wanted to send a message that I don’t condone that,” says Julius Thomas, a Miami Dolphins tight end who knelt during a recent game against the New York Jets. “I’m not OK with somebody trying to prevent someone from standing up for what they think is important.”

But the protests received a far more mixed reaction from fans, many of whom object to the idea of dragging politics into their beloved sport.

“If you want to protest, go somewhere else,” says Donna Murray, who attended a New England Patriots game in Foxborough, Massachusetts. “I think if they did it in a different [place], more people would listen.”

Should professional athletes be allowed to kneel in protest when the national anthem is performed before a game? President Donald Trump thinks the answer is no. That has sparked a nationwide debate about patriotism, free speech, and race relations.

At a September political rally in Alabama, the president called on National Football League (NFL) team owners to fire players who refuse to stand when the anthem is played before games.

Trump’s remarks at the rally, and his tweets that followed, led to a wave of protests. Defiance grew on the sidelines of America’s most popular sport.

It had started as a small number of demonstrations by a handful of black football players to draw attention to issues such as police brutality. But after Trump’s comments, it quickly grew into nationwide protests.

On September 24, nearly all the players on three teams stayed off the field until the anthem was over. Those teams were the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Tennessee Titans, and the Seattle Seahawks. Players and coaches on dozens of other teams knelt or locked arms during the anthem in dramatic displays of team unity. Many of them disapproved of Trump for causing divisions between people.

“To have the president trying to intimidate people—I wanted to send a message that I don’t [approve of] that,” says Julius Thomas, a Miami Dolphins tight end. Thomas knelt during a recent game against the New York Jets. “I’m not OK with somebody trying to prevent someone from standing up for what they think is important.”

But the protests received a far more mixed reaction from fans. Many football fans object to the idea of dragging politics into their beloved sport.

“If you want to protest, go somewhere else,” says spectator Donna Murray. Murray attended a New England Patriots game in Foxborough, Massachusetts. “I think if they did it in a different [place], more people would listen.”

The recent demonstrations intensified a debate that began last year. That’s when Colin Kaepernick, then a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, began kneeling during the playing of the national anthem to highlight police brutality and racial injustice.

Kaepernick, who has been out of a job so far this season because no team has signed him, isn’t the first athlete to be criticized for disrespecting the anthem. 

In 1968, at the Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico, African-American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos each raised black-gloved fists—a gesture meant to call attention to racial injustice in the U.S.—on the medal stand as the anthem played. They were suspended from the U.S. team for their actions.

The recent demonstrations heated up a debate that began last year. That was when Colin Kaepernick, then a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, began kneeling during the playing of the national anthem. He did so to call attention to police brutality and racial injustice.

Kaepernick, who has not been signed by a team so far this year, is not the first athlete to be criticized for disrespecting the anthem.

Another time this happened was in 1968, at the Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico. African-American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos each raised a black-gloved fist on the medal stand as the anthem played. That act was meant to call attention to racial injustice in the U.S. They were suspended from the U.S. team for their actions.