Kneeling during the National Anthem: There are many who also feel very strongly about the current racial climate due to feeling oppressed, marginalized, and maltreated in a variety of different contexts and environments. The players who are choosing to kneel during the National Anthem are doing so to express a fundamental right of freedom. This stance is an expression of freedom of speech as well as symbolic statement in an attempt to bring awareness and change to what they see as the current climate of racial inequality. These individuals are not kneeling to be disrespectful, irreverent or unpatriotic; but rather, it seems that their actions are a representation of their desire to move towards social justice and change.
