What does it mean to kneel for the national anthem? What does it mean to stand? How is this relevant?

I’ll say right off the bat that sports aren’t really my thing. But, once sports becomes integrated with politics — that’s when I step up to bat.

As I’m sure you’re all well aware, President Trump has been making audacious claims about football players kneeling, instead of standing, while in presence of the US flag. While a crisis occurs in Puerto Rico, Trump turns his focus on a relatively minor occurrence that has happened rather frequently during the past few Football Sunday games. But why?

Trump, as narcissistic as he’s always been, most likely views this as a direct message to himself and to his presidency. The people, so to speak, are not happy with how he has been running the government. This is true, for many reasons; DACA, lack of attention to hurricane victims, and various attempts to ruin the current healthcare system, to name a few. This is an attack on Trump, but it’s not his place to attack their protest.

As granted by the First Amendment, citizens have the right to peaceful protest. This language has been used to allow symbolic protests, for example, one can express their feelings by a protest towards the flag. Destroying the flag in protest is even legal under the Constitution, as granted by the Supreme Court in Texas v. Johnson. Thus, refusing to stand for the flag is a right these players have as citizens.

There are a lot of reasons for people to oppose this type of protest. The main reason is that the flag stands a symbol for all those who have died fighting for our country. While true to some, the flag can mean a variety of things to a variety of people — depending on their current relationship to the United States. These players mean no disrespect towards those who fought and died, but they rather feel that this is the best and less harmful way to express how they feel about our current state.

Think about the pledge we say when we encounter the flag at a young age; “I pledge allegiance to the flag for which it stands. One nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” Based on Trumps current executive orders, he has no respect for liberty and justice for all. In fact, Trump has directly infringed on the citizens, and even the immigrants from DACA, by removing their personal privacy and their right to have their situations be dealt with justly. Thus, let these people protest. Let them use their celebrity status to speak out against things they disagree with. Why allow our President to shame us for exercising our Constitutional right?