Why Kneeling for the National Anthem is Understandable
A student commentary from Rampage writer Kassidy Brown
Kneeling for the National Anthem first became spotlighted when NFL player Colin Kaepernick kneeled at a pre-season game in August of 2016. His reasoning for the protest: police brutality in America. Though the protest was peaceful, the responses from some people was outrage.
When I first heard about Kaepernick kneeling, I was not happy about it because my mom is a veteran, and I thought it was just disrespectful. However, that was before I learned the reasoning behind it and became aware of the injustice happening around the country daily.
According to Mapping Police Violence, 28 percent of Americans killed by the police in 2020 were black people, even though they are only 13 percent of the U.S. population.
One of the arguments I have heard against kneeling during the National Anthem is that it is disrespectful to veterans and to our flag. However, many veterans have spoken out saying that they have no issue with it and that they understand and support them doing it. My mother is one of these veterans who has said this because she understands that it is not being done to disrespect her sacrifice for our country, but instead to continue another fight for freedom within the country itself.
When I first heard that the men’s basketball team at Bluefield College kneeled for the anthem before a game, I thought it was great. I thought the school would come together and support each other in this protest for justice.
The reason the basketball team did it was to protest the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6 of this year. I agreed with them that the attack needed to be addressed because it never really was by many people. However, I fully believe that if the attack was done by people of color, then the situation would have been handled differently.
Body counts from that day would have been higher had it been black people. More arrests would have been made had it been black people. The media coverage and attention from government officials would have been more attentive had it been black people.
The National Anthem was written in 1814 and was set to be our national anthem in 1931. Both of these were during a time where black people were enslaved, killed, and persecuted just based on the color of their skin. Knowing this, it gives a better understanding to being okay with people kneeling for the flag.
I think the Bluefield College men’s basketball team did a good job bringing attention to the issue they wanted to address. I fully support them and their kneeling for the anthem and the flag, in general, because it has not always stood for justice and freedom for all.
To learn more about police brutality facts and statistics, visit the Mapping Police Violence website.