By: Valerie Tonn
While sports have been a form of entertainment for centuries, whether through watching the Olympics, school sports, family and friend parties, or even becoming an athlete, participating in sports can be part of this (PJ, n.d.). Political movements have entered the sports industry recently, with athletes peacefully protesting (PJ, n.d.). This protesting can include kneeling during the Star Spangled Banner and clothing items (PJ, n.d.).
One of the most covered topics of peaceful protest in sports is kneeling during the national game anthem (PJ, n.d.). Colin Kaepernick, an activist and National Football League football athlete, was one of the outspoken athletes to protest racial inequality on the field and would often get backlash for doing so (PJ, n.d.). One example of peaceful protesting during the national anthem at athletic games was in November 2016 when 12 dozen football players knelt during an NFL game to protest racial inequality (PJ, n.d.). This event caused the U.S. president, Donald Trump, at the time, to speak out against these actions (PJ, n.d.). This kneeling isn’t exclusive to the NFL as the NBA has had players kneel including both the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami having players kneel during a game between the two (Terrill, 2020).
When the Black Lives Matter movement took off, players also would wear hoodies alike to the one Trayvon Martin wore when he was killed (Lind, 2023). Kaepernick has even worn clothing items to protest, as he wore socks to protest police brutality during football practice (Press, 2017). Hashtags were created for social media with #BamaSits for the University of Alabama football players who kneeled during their homecoming game against the University of Kentucky (Lind, 2023). These players who kneeled during the national anthem were protesting over the treatment of people of color and recent shootings in 2016 of black individuals (Lind, 2023). The majority of responsive tweets to this hashtag were in favor of Kaepernick’s actions at football games and of the student's actions at the University of Alabama game (Lind, 2023).
While protesting might cause a lot of contraversy, it is a right that should be respected when displayed peacefully. Athletes are using their platform, in this case appearances on TV during a game and in the media, to spread their political opinions and shed light on important issues. One could argue how is this any different then a celebrity doing this on social media? You scroll online and pass by a post, sometimes even when your not following the particular person posting a political message. If you don’t agree with these opinons, you should at least respectfully decline to comment or interact, just as others may be do with your political opinons.
References:
Lind, R. A. (2023). Race/gender/class/media: Considering diversity across audiences, content, and producers. Routledge.
PJ, A. (n.d.). Social Movements. Sports Protests | Duke Social Movements. https://socialmovements.trinity.duke.edu/groups/sports-protests
Press, A. (2017, August 28). Colin Kaepernick sports socks to protest “rogue cops.” Daily News. https://www.dailynews.com/2016/09/01/colin-kaepernick-sports-socks-to-protest-rogue-cops/
Terrill, M. J. (2020, October 1). In photos: Sports protests around the world. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/27/world/gallery/sports-protests/index.html
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