Below is my rational argument on Colin Kaepernick's protest. Throughout writing this paper I have realized people have been so caught up in Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem that they have not noticed all the good that has come out of his protest. His pledge of a million dollars to aid communities in need is just the beginning of it. With all the research I have done over this topic I came to the conclusion that Colin Kaepernick deserves our respect for risking his career to bring awareness to an issue that still exists today. #istandwithKaepernick
Colin Kaepernick
Protests The National Anthem
I am a huge football fan, but somethings in
life are bigger than football and sports in general. Colin Kaepernick, San
Francisco 49ers quarterback, seems to understand this as he shook the football nation when he decided not to
stand for the national anthem. At first I was confused as to why he would do
this because of the disrespect such an act could generate especially to the
veterans who have served our wonderful country. After the game Colin Kaepernick
was surrounded by the media and he stated, he did not want to show pride in a
country that opposes “people of color” (Wyche). This resulted in mixed
reactions from football fans around the world. He received boos and death
threats from many football fans around the country but it has not stopped him
from continuing on with his protest. I believe many people did not initially
receive the message he was trying to send out. Kaepernick received death
threats all over social media, however we should be not be hung up over what he
is doing, but rather why he is doing it. Colin Kaepernick started this protest
to bring awareness to a problem that unfortunately still exists in our country
today, racism.
While
some people admit that racism does in fact still exist, for many others, well
the truth hurts. I could see why it could be difficult to support a man who
does not stand for the national anthem which represents freedom and the lives
of so many who fought for it. Many people around the country thought the same
thing as they sent him death threats for his protest. Macguire points this out
in his article, when Kaepernick is asked about the possibility of someone
acting upon their threats Kaepernick replies by saying, “To me, if something like that were to happen, you’ve proved my point,
and it will be it will be loud and clear for
everyone why it happened, and that would move this movement forward at a
greater speed than what it is even now. There's a lot of racism disguised as
patriotism in this country. And people don't like to address that. And they
don't like to address what the root of this protest is." Many people have
not realized the backlash Colin Kaepernick has received from his protest
defends his argument (Macguire). Pathos is used here because this is directed
at the emotion of the audience. People start to understand that Kaepernick is
willing to sacrifice his life to bring awareness to this issue. Ethos is used
is McCam’s article when he shows Kapernick stating, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a
country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger
than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There
are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with
murder” (McCarn). At first I questioned why Kaepernick sat for
the anthem, but then I started to read into it and what he was protesting for.
It is clear that police brutality, inequality, and racism do in fact still
exist and Kaepernick is doing the right thing by bringing awareness to these
issues. I also believe you are being
controversial if you are saying he does not have the right or should be killed
for not standing up for something that symbolizes free rights. Logos is used in
Park’s article when she points out Kaepernick saying that veterans fight for
his right to stand or take a knee for the national anthem. Many people were
surprised because of the support he received from veterans as
#istandwithKaepernick and #veteransforKaepernick
was trending all over social media. One veteran tweeted, “stop deliberating
trying to miss the message by crucifying the messenger” (Park).
As
Colin Kaepernick continued to receive support from the political world, players
and fans started to support his stance as well. From week to week more players
around the league as well as from other sports started to join his protest
(Sandritter). Michael Bennet, an NFL player on the Seattle Seahawks stated, “You need a white guy to join the fight. The white guy
is super important to the fight,” Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett said.
“For people to really see social injustices, there must be someone from the
other side of the race who recognizes the problem, because a lot of times if
just one race says there’s a problem, nobody is realistic about it. At
the same time, I see why they probably wouldn’t, because they don’t know what
we’re going through” (Scott). I thought logos and ethos were used in this
article because people would indeed pay more attention to the protest if it had
people who are not minorities defending the minorities and showing they too notice
that inequality is still an issue today. I also believe people are ethically
responsible to stand up for what is going on as opposed to staying away from
the situation but just as Bennet said, they really do not know what “people of
color” are going through. Although I do not see how some people do not notice
that this is an issue, whether you do or do not everyone should at least be
open minded about the situation and think maybe there is really a problem going
on and what they could do to help.
What I have mostly respected about
Colin Kaepernick’s protest is the fact that he has not just brought attention
to the matter but he has also put his money where his mouth is. Colin Kaeprnick made a million dollar pledge to help
communities in need, he stated, “I've been very blessed to be in this position
and to be able to make the kind of money I do," Kaepernick said. "And
I have to help these people. I have to help these communities. It's not right
that they're not put in a position to succeed or given those opportunities to
succeed” (Wagner McGough). As Colin Kaeprnick’s protest expanded, his
jersey sales skyrocketed and his jersey became the top seller in the league. He
responded by saying, "It was something that the jersey sales jumped
because of people's belief that there can be change and we can make this
country better and that they believe I was someone who can help that
change," For me, that support is something I have to give back to the
communities for that cause because that's what their belief is, that's what my
belief is and we can work towards a common goal” (Rovell). Ethos is used here
because the article shows Kaepernick’s good character with him making these
donations and it causes people to see that maybe Kaepernick does have the right
intentions by doing this.
By trying to bring positive change
to the world, Colin Kaepernick is just one of many professional athletes that
try to use their platform to bring attention to problems in communities. A
report states that athletes “make the case that
sports can and should be a vehicle for progressive social change.” People often
say leave politics outside of sports, but for these athletes to get their
messages out there, using their platforms is the best possible scenario
(Kaufman). Many people did not appreciate the fact that Kaepernick decided to
take a knee for the national anthem but his protest was executed peacefully and
with respect. Kaepernick initially sat during
the national anthem, then decided to take a knee because it showed more
respect. People say he could have done something else to protest, but what is a
bigger stage to make his protest then during a song that is played and
televised before every game nationwide. Kaepernick chose to make his stance
during the national anthem because of the amount of attention it would receive
so he could use that attention to bring awareness to his cause and start a
conversation on how this issue could be worked out and it has been working
tremendously. People need to pay less attention to him taking a knee and concentrate
on what it stands for (Kaufman).
All in all,
Colin Kaepernick will have supporters and he will have critics. However everyone
needs to look at the many positives that have come out of Kaepernick’s protest.
It is clear that “people of color” have been mistreated and we should respect
that Colin Kaepernick is sacrificing his football career and his life for a
greater cause, because by him taking a knee he is standing up for an issue that
unfortunately still exists in the world today (Wyche).
Work Cited
Hill,
Tim. “Colin Kaepernick on Death Threats: If I’M Killed ’You‘ve proved my
point.’” The Guardian. The
Guardian, 21 Sept. 2016. Web. 5 Dec. 2016.
Kaufman,
Peter, and Eli A. Wolff. “Playing and Protesting: Sport as a Vehicle for Social
Change.” Journal of
Sport and Social Issues (2010):
Web. 7 Dec. 2016.
Macguire,
Eoghan. “Colin Kaepernick: Quarterback Says He Has Received Death Threats.” CNN. CNN, 22 Sept. 2016. Web. 5 Dec. 2016.
Park,
Madison. “#VeteransForKaepernick Trends as Vets Defend NFL Player.” CNN. CNN, 31 Aug. 2016. Web. 5 Dec. 2016
Sandritter,
Mark. All the
athletes who joined Kaepernick’s national anthem protest.
SBNation.com, 11 Sept. 2016. Web. 5 Dec. 2016.
Scott,
Nate, Alysha Tsuji, and Andrew Joseph. “Seahawks’ Michael Bennett: ‘You need a
white guy’ to Join Anthem Protests.” USA TODAY, 23 Sept. 2016.
Web. 5
Dec. 2016.
Wagner-McGough,
Sean. Sean
Wagner-McGough. CBS Sports, 2 Sept. 2016. Web. 5 Dec.
2016.
Wagner-McGough,
Sean. Sean
Wagner-McGough. ESPN, 7 Sept. 2016. Web. 5
Dec.
2016.
Wyche,
Steve. Colin
Kaepernick explains why he sat during national anthem.
NFL.com, Web. 5 Dec. 2016.
From the beginning of the semester, this course has not been an average writing class for me. At first, when hearing about the assignments we were going to have throughout the semester, I was not too comfortable taking this class. I came in thinking this class was going to strictly be hearing lectures and writing papers throughout the semester, however it was much more than that. One of the key things I learned in this course was that there are multiple different ways you can express your mind and it is not just by writing a paper. From making multimodals to using blogging and social media, I learned there is a lot more to writing than just writing. Making a multimodal was perhaps my favorite assignment from this course as I learned to express my mind without using a single word. It all began with this link that I used to help me create a project that I will always appreciate. Although I was uncomfortable with this class at first, I learned to really appreciate it. I will continue to use the things I learned throughout the semester to voice my mind because I feel this was a great deal of what the class was about.
My breakthrough moment in this course was when we were assigned to write a summary on "An Art Museum Designed for Taking Selfies". Although this was later on in the semester, I believe this was when I really got the hang of things. I was able to identify when the writer used logos, pathos, and ethos and use them to construct a well written summary. It was also in this assignment where I learned how to correctly use MLA Format and much of that was thanks to this link. 
As you have learned, just as there are many forms of writing, there are multiple ways to voice your mind. If you took one thing away from this course, whether it be through writing, social media, pictures, or even multimodals, I hope it's that you never stop voicing your opinion. #CollegeWriting2
