The uproar of the NFL players kneeling during the national anthem has taken over social media. Many people share opinions both for and against the action. The people protesting claim that it is a peaceful way of confronting the injustices people of color face in America today. According to Eric Reid, a San Francisco 49er player, “It’s a protest against systematic oppression against people of color, police brutality, and the criminal injustice rate” (“NFL protests 2017: What are Players Protesting When Kneeling for the National Anthem?”).

One of the many people voicing a strong opinion is our president. President Trump tweeted the following on September 26, 2017: “The NFL has all sorts of rules and regulations. The only way out for them is to set a rule that you can’t kneel during our National Anthem.”

According to “The flag of the United States of America” website hosted by Duane Streufert, these are the proper guidelines that should be followed:

The Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem etiquette
1. “The pledge of allegiance should be rendered by standing at attention, facing the flag, and saluting. When the national anthem is played or sung, citizens should stand at attention and salute at the first note and hold the salute through the last note. The salute is directed to the flag, if displayed, otherwise to the music.” (“Flag Etiquette”).

Although the NFL rulebook does not state anything about standing during the anthem, the game operations manual says otherwise, according to NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy: “The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem. During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking” (Scholes).

Another important perspective is a former US Marine, Joel Metrick. He had a strong opinion on the matter, saying “Sad. Pathetic. And disrespectful. To disrespect the American Flag and National Anthem in this way just shows how selfish and disrespectful they all are to use something so significant from our American history. Yes, I understand it’s their right to protest, whine and cry about whatever they disagree with (about everything nowadays) but disrespecting the flag and National Anthem brings it to a shameful level. How about these whiners use their protesting time into something, constructive and positive instead of whining and disrespecting our flag and anthem.”

After doing my research and reading what everyone had to say I formed an opinion of my own. I feel that kneeling to the flag is a form of disrespect no matter what your meaning for doing it is. The protesters claimed it to be a peaceful way of dealing with the problem of racism but I think that it could be addressed in a less offensive way.

Be sure to share your own opinion by casting a vote on the NFL poll created on the WHS howl website!

Sources:

“Flag Etiquette.” usflag.org. 10 Feb. 2005. Assessed 3 Oct. 2017.

Metrick, Joel. Personal interview. 3 Oct. 2017.

“NFL protests 2017: What are players protesting when kneeling for the national anthem?” sbnation.com. 28 Sep. 2017. Assessed on 3 Oct. 2017.

Scholes, Ty et. al. “Verify: Are NFL football players required to stand for the National Anthem?” 11alive.com. 25 Sep. 2017. Assessed 9 October 2017.