Monday, September 26, 2016

National Anthem Protests


Kaepernick, #7, sitting during the National Anthem before a preseason 49ers game
Photo credit: sbnation.com
An interesting topic that has been in current events this week is that the National Anthem protests have spread to college football and the WNBA. The National Anthem protest began when Colin Kaepernick, quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, refused to stand for the National Anthem during a preseason football game this summer. His reasoning was racial injustice and police brutality against African-Americans. Kaepernick refused to stand because he said that he wasn’t going to stand for the flag when black people and people of color are being oppressed in this country. He followed that by saying that he plans on donating $1 million to different organizations that help communities. 

Michigan football players raise their fists during the National Anthem
Photo credit: foxnews.com
Joining Kaepernick’s protest, this weekend college football players for Michigan and Michigan State raised their fists while the National Anthem played. Then later that day, before a WNBA playoff game, New York Liberty guard Brittany Boyd sat on the bench with her head bowed during the Anthem. Boyd had also previously sat for the Anthem during the past couple of games. Players on the WNBA Indiana Fever team had also decided to kneel during the National Anthem before their playoff game. Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh, who had coached Kaepernick in San Francisco for four seasons, said that he supports his players and that this is an issue that clearly isn't going away. After the games, these players are using Twitter to explain their reasoning for joining the protest and what it means to them. While this has caused a lot of backlash on social media, more players and teams continue to join Kaepernick and this protest. 

5 comments:

  1. Hi Autumn,
    I really like the way you positioned your photos on your blog and the way they were captioned. I think you wrote about a very interesting issue in America right now and I like how you tried to include as much information about it. I did not know about the Michigan or Michigan State players taking part (made it more closer to home as well), so you definitely provided me with information that I did not even know about. Thanks for your post!
    -Gillian

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  2. This is a great topic to write about. A lot of people are very opinionated about it and your blog was more informative versus opinionated and I like that. You give the information and then allow others to make up their own minds and opinions about the topic. Very informative! Great job!

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  3. Autumn,
    This was a really interesting blog. The way that you arranged and set up the blog really got my attention. It was also interesting that you added Michigan and Michigan State because I didn't know much about the topic.
    -Haley Les

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  4. Autumn,

    As others have mentioned, it is good that you left any bias out of this. You presented facts along with some great visuals, to aid in your story. As a sports fan, this is a topic that I cannot go a day without seeing on television or social media. While I am getting tired of seeing the same old story over and over again, you definitely chose a hot topic.
    -B

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  5. Hi Autumn,

    The information you provided was very interesting and the layout was nice! This is a big topic and it continues to grow. I did not know about Michigan and Michigan State information so that was nice to learn more on the topic.

    -Alicia

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