The Kneel
Relevant interest
· Kneeling during the National Anthem in response to racial injustice and police brutality
· The sports entertainment industry
· Colin Kaepernick and the kneel
· The public response to kneeling during the National Anthem
A Christian point-of-view on Kneeling during the National Anthem:
· Kneeling during the National Anthem is done as a sign of respect. According to Wikipedia, kneeling is associated with reverence, respect, submission and obeisance, particularly if one kneels before a person who is standing or sitting: the kneeling position renders a person defenseless and unable to flee (2016). Kneeling during the National Anthem is a form of peaceful protest in the light of recent events of police brutality against minority Americans.
· Many sports Entertainers and celebrities are kneeling and protesting the National Anthem in the United States as a means to use their celebrity influence to inspire a response to the social injustices occurring among the nation’s citizens and to call for social change (Lawson).
· Civil rights are directly related to leaders and events of national significance. Colin Kapernick is the initiator of the new form of peaceful protest and his efforts sparked a controversy of national significance inside and outside of the sports industry. His reasoning for doing so is to draw awareness to the current situations of social injustice and police brutality against minorities races in America.
· Many people have found the form of protest to be disrespectful to the flag, the nation, and the U.S. armed forces, while others find this protest as necessary and successful in calling attention to the current issues in the U.S.
· For the bible to address examples of the challenging of unrighteousness in public affairs, man must acknowledge an individual’s right to protest the social injustices plaguing the society. These rights include personally approaching the officials or writing letters exposing injustice and calling for repentance and obedience to the law of God (Hammond, n.d.).
Biblical View
· Christ calls for all people to be considered equal and treated as such. Man must make every effort to live in peace with one another.
· Society is consumed by social injustices and a greed for power. We as man must resist social indifferences and come together to walk in the way of Jesus Christ our savior.
· Social injustice must be exposed; however, it must be done peacefully and with humility in the eyes of our Lord and Savior.
Blog
The Civil Rights Movement can be dated back to the 1960’s and 1970’s. The movement focused on leaders and events that affected citizens on a national level. The movement was originally political and secured legislative and judicial triumphs (Lawson). In recent years the fights for civil rights has gained momentum through the awareness sparked by celebrity figures such as Colin Kapernick and other sports entertainers. The significance of celebrity influence has shed light on situations via trends, social media, the news, and cable networks. In 2016, Colin Kapernick a player for the NFL 49ers team, chose to kneel during the national anthem. This sparked a trend across the sports industry for more athletes to follow his actions of protest in response to recent acts of police brutality against minority U.S. citizens. Kaepernick’s act of kneeling is a peaceful act of protest and it is protected by the 1st amendment of the United States Constitution. Kaepernick’s protest is a direct response to the killings and abuse of unarmed minorities being gunned down by one another and the police on the streets of America.
In recent years, several young and black people have died at the hands of white citizens and officers without justification or repercussion. The deaths of a few significant figures such as Trayvon Martin who was gunned down by a white man in his neighborhood because he was wearing a hoodie and was deemed as suspicious has sparked outrage across the nation. Martin’s family never received justice for the lost of their loved one. The same goes for Eric Garner, the young man in New York who was choked to death by police on the streets of New York after pleading to the police his lack of oxygen. His family never received justice for their loved one either. Recently is has become a trend of young minority life to be lost at the hands of whites and the police in America without justice or justification of their deaths. Families are left with no answer, no justice, only heart ache and fear to be a minority in America. Citizens do not feel safe nor protected by police. These events have only created division and unrest in the United States and Kapernick is using his protest of the National Anthem to bring attention these issues.
The participation of sports entertainers in the movement for civil rights shed light on the internal issues of racial unrest in the country. Traditionally, historical narratives have been derived by political events occurring on a grand, nation-wide scale (Lawson). These narrative helps to bring awareness to important situations that are shaping the lives of citizen’s day to day lives. “Athletic protest during the U.S. national anthem date as far back as the late 1800’s and strongly correlate with racial and ethnic resistance to racial discrimination, injustice, and inequality in law and custom (Chaplin & Montez de Oca, 2018).” Such acts give perspective to what players stand for. 1st Peter 3:15 says that in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect (Crossway Bibles, 2016). A player’s stance has significant influence over fans and followers, there kneeling has been marked as only the beginning of a new wave of sports entertainers protesting injustice. Following kneeling has been athletes sitting during the anthem and whole teams choosing not to be present during the anthem before games. The wide-spread participation of protesting the anthem surely demonstrates the importance of the cause and call for social change.
Protesting the national anthem has is advantages and disadvantages. Some advantages are that it stands for standing up for freedom, liberty, and justice for all (ProCon.org, (2018). The second advantage is that the method of protesting (kneeling) is protected by the Constitution as mentioned previously. The final advantage is that the more celebrities and people of significant public importance to join the cause, the more people will pay attention and get conversations on the issue of police brutality and racism started. Disadvantages include the public’s feelings of disrespect toward the flag, nation, and military (ProCon.org, 2018). It is argued that the flag is a representation of more than just our country, therefore it is considered taboo to do anything that represents a disrespect to the flag. Because of the controversy surrounding the kneeling protest, many would say that the protest in ineffective and promotes division and racial unrest in the United States. The controversy surrounding kneeling has brought about negative and positive implications for players. For example, kneeling was disapproved by team owners and players were penalized for utilizing their 1st amendment rights. On the upside of it, Kapernick was rewarded with a deal from Nike to promote his message to the people and in support of the movement. As stated before, kneeling during the anthem has its benefits despite the negative backlash it has received.
Biblical Outlook on Protest
It is not Christian to discriminate against one another, nor is its Christian like to brutalize those who are inferior to us. The biblical perspective on civil rights states that we must live together in peace. We must not quarrel with one another and we shall live in holiness as expected in the eyes of the Lord. The bible also explains that it is okay to protest injustice, however there is a right way and a wrong way to do so. According to Patrick Mabilog, “A proper “protests” starts with standing before God and others (2017).” God says be peaceable, therefore we must do so in protest as well.
The point of protest is draw attention to an important issue, to give a voice to the voiceless. Proverbs 21:13 says, “Who so stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he shall also cry himself, but shall not be heard (Crossway Bibles, 2016).” Those who ignore the protest of injustice shall suffer in the end themselves at the hands of God, therefore it is not within our human right to impose chaos or his wrath ourselves. For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints (1st Corinthians 14:33) (Nelson, 1982). The bible tells us that chaos and violence is not the answer to societal injustices, peace is. People must stand up for themselves and causes that are important to the functionality of the nation. They must do so in the manner of Christ Jesus by practicing patience, peace, and humility. The bible provides us with permission to stand for just causes, as well as the methods to do so without going against the laws of God. Kneeling to the National Anthem is an example of such protest. It is a sign of peaceful respect in recognition of a just cause against police brutality and racial unjust. It is not chaotic, does not promote violence, and demonstrates humility as the act of kneeling places a subject into submission. It is important to stand up for society injustices, however it is more important to do so in the way of the Lord.
References
Bibles, Crossway. The Holy Bible (English Standard Version). A Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers, 2016.
Chaplin, Kenneth Sean and Jeffery Montez de Oca. “Avoiding the Issue: University Students’ Responses to NFL Players’ National Anthem Protests.” Sociology of Sport (2019).
Hammond, Dr. Peter. “A Biblical Response to Protests.” Africa Christian Action (n.d. ).
Lawson, Steven F. “Nation, Community, and the Black Freedom Struggle.” Civil Rights Crossroads (2015).
ProCon.org. “Refusing to Stand for the National Anthem: Top 3 Pros & Cons.” ProCon.Org (2018).
