4-6pages MLA style essay

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Erwin John Alvarez

Professor Alessi

English 28

16 May 2018

Pre-Game Protesting: Patriotic or Disrespectful?

“Look at them. They are protesting before the game. They are being paid to play, not to

take a knee.” Those are my Uncle Eric’s uttered words as he and my other uncles were watching

football during a traditional Filipino gathering at my grandmother’s house. As I continued eating

my palabok—noodle dish with shrimp sauce— at the couch while unconsciously listening to

their sentiments, they were still talking about how disrespectful it was for the NFL players to not

stand while the national anthem was being performed. Curiosity ate my whole underdeveloped

thoughts so I did my research. Most athletes who kneeled before that game had been protesting

about racially unjust actions against people of color by many police officers across the country.

The United States of America is a country of democracy indeed; the First Amendment ensures its

citizens the right of free speech. So why not exercise it? The established norm in the United

States is to stand in order to show pride and respect for the national anthem. Yet, many athletes

of late otherwise protest. Many athletes face negative sanctions and prejudice from their

audiences but still have the audacity to stand up in the name of reform. With that conviction and

integrity, athletes should protest during pre-game.

Sportswriter Dave Zirin, in his essay “pre-game” indicates that the sports industry are

reluctant to get involve in any way from politics to avoid conflicts from most of its sponsors

(politicians in particular) and viewers (426). Yet, there has been a long noble history of sports

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mixing with politics. For example, the whole NBA Phoenix Suns team protested during the

playoff game with San Antonio Spurs to resist the state of Arizona’s bill which concerns tons of

undocumented immigrants living in that state (427). Moreover, NFL players voiced their political

opinions in favor of LGBT marriage equality in America. The whole team of Miami Heat

peacefully protested by standing up to express their thirst for justice (424) for the death of

Trayvon Martin, a black teenager wrongfully killed by a latino neighborhood watcher.

Throughout the entire existence of sports industry, many athletes today who protest nowadays

have been heavily influenced by their predecessors who first stand up to protest in behalf of

refinement.

Why not continue this noble mores of protest while horrendous injustice still exists

today? Up to this day, countless racial profiling scenarios have been happening in the country

exercised by our very own police officers. Recently, Stephon Clark, a black man, orphaned his

two sons after being wrongfully killed by police officers in his own backyard in Sacramento. He

was shot eight times which resulted in his death after being suspected of having a gun when in

fact he was only holding his phone. Police officers did not hesitate, perhaps, to pull the trigger to

a black man like him. Furthermore, Tamir Rice, also a black man, was shot by police officers

when he and his sibling were playing toy gun at a park in Cleveland. When a concerned citizen

called 911 to report Tamir, who was waving “most likely fake” gun, police tried to “de-

escalate” (Coates 100) the suspected twelve-year-old kid by killing him. One must say that the

police officers are also afraid for their lives. But with those events of killing unarmed, suspected

black people without proper sanctions, unfair policing is still prevalent nowadays (Coates 102).

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With all the racial discrimination happening in this country, can we blame the influential

athletes—most are people of color— from protesting and using their own “platform” to increase

awareness? In Kathy Barnette’s article “ To NFL millionaires on Thanksgiving, be thankful and

get off your knees already,” she further emphasizes her disappointment towards athlete’s

unpatriotic actions during pre-game. According to Barnette, racial tensions in our country are

somehow less compare to what their African-American ancestors experienced back in the

history. So, the athletes nowadays should be thankful for all the sacrifices of many activists to

diminish the racial tensions somehow and should take a break and express their patriotism during

pre-game. In Barnette’s opinion, our country is far from being perfect and will always have its

flaws so the athlete’s must appreciate what America has achieved so far and express their

gratitude by respecting the anthem (2).

While others claim that kneeling is disrespectful for this country, isn’t protesting covered

by the free speech clause of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights? Isn’t it the American way

to express our thoughts and response to the government’s flaws? As Zirin states, “To put it in a

different way, athletes aren’t cartoon characters or robots. They are part of this world” (426).

After all, athletes, whether we like it or not, are also human beings and citizens of the United

States of America regardless of their influential profession. One way of participating in such a

democratic country is by expressing their opinions as well.

Besides the fact of the athletes exercising their first amendment rights, many critics and

supporters of the sports industry, including Barnett, are opposing the athletes’ protest. And their

reason is to take a quick vacation from politics and to be entertained by the athletes. Supporters

are going to the arena, court, or stadium to watch a game not to watch a protest—whether

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symbolically or not. The athletes must appreciate all the liberties and benefits they are receiving

and should just play the game. Because after all, they are paid to play and to give audience

entertainment.

However, many athletes who refrain to stand up during the national anthem do not let the

protest affect their gaming performance; they still win. In fact, when Miami Heat symbolically

protested for the death of Trayvon Martin during their game versus Detroit Pistons in 2012, they

still managed to give their one hundred percent performance and win the game. Moreover, the

Phoenix Suns won against San Antonio Spurs on their last playoff game in 2012 despite

protesting in opposition to the Arizona’s concerning immigration senate bill. So even if the

athletes protest, they still do their jobs and try to win. There is no observable correlation between

the athletes’ protesting versus the outcome of their gaming performance.

It is very easy to conclude that sports and politics aren’t friends. Also, the mixture of both

is very controversial. The main goal of sports is to give entertainment to the audience. But some

athletes are using the opportunity of being watched by many during pre-game to voice their

opinions and influence others symbolically to take a stand as well. Either way, supporters, critics,

and the management shouldn’t muzzle them with “apolitical image” (Zirin 426) because it would

violate their fundamental constitutional rights. Athletes are not unpatriotic because they are

kneeling. They are concerned citizens, who want equality and justice, possibly, with the true

definition of nationalists in our country, United States of America.