This past week, the Colin Kaepernick-era of national anthem protests reached an all-time high amid nationwide discussion after President Donald Trump called anthem protesters out at a rally in Alabama.
Many fans have joined Trump in expressing their disdain with the decision to protest the anthem. Fans have booed teams who’ve protested and have expressed their frustrations online as well. Multiple NASCAR team owners, including racing legend Richard Petty, said that their drivers would get fired if they protested the anthem.
After he said again that he supported Kaepernick and other athletes who’ve chosen to protest, NBA superstar LeBron James clarified what the true meaning of the anthem protest is during the Cleveland Cavaliers Media Day.
“It’s not about the disrespect of the flag and our military and everybody that has made this world free. It is about equality and people having the option and the freedom to speak upon things that they feel are not just,” James said.
With that being said, here are five legitimate reasons players are taking a knee.
- Americans have the right to
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech.”
- American women aren’t treated or paid as well as American men
Women made less than 20 percent of what men made in 2015, according to a study done by the Institute For Women’s Policy Research. Black women would have to wait until 2124 and Hispanic women would have to wait until 2248 for equal pay, according to the same study. There’s also the notion in some quarters that American women should “know their place” in society. The most memorable situation in sports is perhaps during the 2016 NBA Finals when Ayesha Curry tweeted that the games were rigged and analysts such as Stephen A. Smith said that Curry stepped out of line.
While many argue the game isn’t as entertaining to watch, the WNBA doesn’t nearly receive the amount of respect the NBA does. The average WNBA player receives about $72,000, according to Black Enterprise. The average NBA salary is around $6 million, according to Forbes. WNBA teams are getting their first feature in a video game this year in NBA Live 18. The first video game featuring the NBA was 25 years ago, granted the WNBA didn’t begin until 1997.
- The Muslim ban
Muslim-majority countries Iran, Lybia, and Syria, as well as Yemen, Somalia, Chad, North Korea and Venezuela, are all under the travel ban that President Trump instituted. The ban of a majority of the Muslim countries arises from concerns of possible terrorist attacks.
“Following an extensive review by the Department of Homeland Security, we are taking action today to protect the safety and security of the American people by establishing a minimum security baseline for entry into the United States,” Trump said in a statement.
A Georgia State student discovered that while Muslims accounted for 12 percent of terrorist attacks in the United States from 2011 to 2015, attacks by Muslims received 44 percent of the media’s coverage of terrorist attacks.
- LGBTQIQA Americans are being killed
Last year, at least 22 transgender people were killed in the United States, which was the most recorded by the Human Rights Campaign. This year, 21 have been killed so far, according to Advocate mag. Former Navy sailor Dwanya Hickerson was sentenced to 40 years in prison for stabbing a transgender woman 119 times to death on July 23, 2016.
- Black people still aren’t being treated fairly
Ironically, the athlete who started this discussion still hasn’t been signed. Kaepernick is clearly one of the 30 best quarterbacks in the league right now and he can’t get a spot as even a backup on a team at the moment. Blacks make up 13 percent of the U.S. population but comprise 24 percent of those killed by police, making Blacks 2.5 times more likely to be shot and killed by police, according to the Washington Post. In 2015, 99 percent of the cases involving fatal police shootings did not result in the officer being convicted, according to Mapping Police Violence.
