Kaiser 1

Calie Kaiser
Lohmeyer
Composition 1
12/07/17
The Legality of Kneeling During the National Anthem
Zack Beauchamp addressed a major controversy that has swept the United States over the

past year. In his article, Its actually very strange for sports games to begin with the national

anthem, he responds to the controversy over players protesting during the national anthem. He

does not argue directly on whether it is right or wrong, but on the history and what the national

anthem truly symbolizes now. Although I agree with Beauchamp, no matter the history behind

something, our freedom of speech and other Constitutional Rights are a key foundation to the

United States. This gives us the right to protest, whether offensive or not.

Beauchamps article responds to the many people who are questioning the latest

controversy: whether it is actually legal for players to kneel for the national anthem. He starts by

pointing out that international sports teams do not play their national anthems, they actually find

it odd that we play ours before games. He traces the origin back to The Star Spangled Banner

being declared our official national anthem in 1931; the year before the United States entered

World War I. That same year they played the national anthem before a baseball game, more

specifically the Cubs and The Red Sox game. All of the players stopped to pay respect to the

flag. Because of the positive reaction, it was played at more games, but only major ones such as

opening day or the World Series games. Soon enough the United States--barely recovered from

World War I--joined World War II. This is when the national anthem became a ritual in every

game. Matt Soniak explained,

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During World War II, baseball games again became venues for large-scale displays of

patriotism, and technological advances in public address systems allowed songs to be

played without a band. The Star-Spangled Banner was played before games throughout

the course of the war, and by the time the war was over, the pregame singing of the

national anthem had become cemented as a baseball ritual, after which it spread to other

sports. (Beauchamp).

In other words, Beachamp recognizes the ritual of the national anthem being played more of an

advertisement tactic now, whereas before it was used to support the war effort. Beauchamp

highlights that the NFL has a particular kind of patriotism in mind when it plays the national

anthem. Its turning The Star-Spangled Banner into an advertising jingle, (Beauchamp).

Even though the United States is one of the only countries that plays their national

anthem before sporting events, that does not justify that it is okay for these players to be

protesting during it. Rather, what justifies their right to do this is the First Amendment in the

Constitution: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting

the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the

people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances,

(Constitute Project).

The only exceptions to the First Amendment are on instances: (1) it [First Amendment]

doesnt protect hate speech, (2) speech that incites violence or encourages the audience to

commit illegal or dangerous acts, (3) material support to domestic or foreign terrorist groups, (4)

public speech made in the conduct of their duties by public employees, (5) slander libel or

defamation, (6) publishing confidential, trade secret, or copyright material, (7) or true threats

(Cant Claim First Amendment Rights). Because the freedom of speech does not protect public
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speech made in the conduct of their duties by public employees, some may say that players

kneeling for the anthem are not protected by the Constitution because of their employers. It has

been said that the NFL handbook has a rule pertaining to kneeling or protesting during the

anthem on pages A62-63 (Tribune Media Wire). However, these pages actually contain

information about the enforcement of fouls. This was considered a fake news story. While the

national anthem is not mentioned in the rulebook like accused by news networks, it is mentioned

in the game operations manual (OMalley). Because of the First Amendment, it is controversial

whether or not they can enforce not protesting during the anthem with these players.

Some people may say that if these players find the audacity to disrespect our military, as

they are the ones fighting for our freedom of speech, the athletes should not receive their pay or

be fired. Although some have talked about suspending or firing people or this, the number of

players kneeling has grown too large to suspend people without essentially forfeiting a game.

You might say for the militarys sake, forfeit a game or two, but has anyone actually asked for

the militarys opinion without just assuming? A veteran of the US Army wrote on this protest; I

take no offense to those who take a knee to stand up to injustice, (Axson). He wrote that at

games he attends, he bows his head to pray for the families of those who have lost loved ones in

the military. On the other hand, he says, I have also removed myself before the playing of the

anthem and will take a knee if I so choose to, (Axson). There are many other veterans who not

only say they would kneel but have kneeled, including a 97-year-old World War II veteran, John

Middlemas, who after kneeling said Those kids have every right to protest, (Hafner).

Beauchamp then had an interview with a former military Ranger, Rory Fanning, who sat during

the national anthem last year with Kaepernick. He explained, Many soldiers thought they were

going overseas to sacrifice for freedom and democracy. But they are not seeing those ideals
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being practiced in this country. Kaepernicks protest is resonating with soldiers who feel like

theyve been lied to, (Beauchamp). To veterans like Ranning, the national anthem reminds them

of what they thought they were fighting for versus the corruption that they are fighting for. There

are countless stories shared by veterans who believe they have fought for these players to be able

to kneel, and they want them to exercise their rights without discrimination.

While this has been a controversial aspect in the news, Beauchamp did a very good job

explaining the origins of why we play to national anthem at sporting events in the first place.

Although the national anthems history has played a key role in our nations history, the right to

protest during it is also given to us because of another key part of our history: The Constitution.

The First Amendment has always played a huge role in our nation, making it one of the reasons

it is called one of the greatest countries in the world. While this will remain controversial in the

news, it is my conclusion that it is well within the rights of these players to protest.
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Works Cited
Axson, Scooby. "I Am an African-American Army Veteran, and I take No Offense to National Anthem
Protests." 29 September 2017. Sports Illustrated. https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/09/29/nfl-
national-anthem-protests-kneeling. 7 October 2017.

Beauchamp, Zack. "It's actually very strange for sports games to begin with the national anthem." 25
September 2017. Vox. https://www.vox.com/2016/9/3/12774172/colin-kaepernick-national-
anthem-why. 7 October 2017.

Carter, Allison. "What the NFL policy book says about the national anthem." 25 September 2017.
IndyStar. https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2017/09/25/what-nfl-rule-book-actually-says-
national-anthem/699886001/. 7 October 2017.

Hafner, Josh. "Anthem kneeling isn't aimed at veterans, and other NFL protest misconceptions." 25
September 2017. USA. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-
now/2017/09/25/anthem-kneeling-isnt-aimed-veterans-and-other-nfl-protest-
misconceptions/701409001/. 8 October 2017.

McAlister, Deb. "7 Things You Can't Claim First Amendment Rights to Say." 3 June 2011.
https://debmcalister.com/2011/06/03/7-things-you-cant-claim-first-amendment-rights-to-say/.
7 October 2017.

O'Malley, Nick. "NFL rulebook does not require players to stand for national anthem; Game Operations
manual does." 26 September 2017. Mass Live.
http://blog.masslive.com/patriots/2017/09/facebook_post_citing_nfl_playe.html. 7 October
2017.

Strauss, Valerie. "A lesson of the free-speech debte Colin Kaepernick started." 26 September 2017. The
Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/09/26/too-
many-kids-dont-understand-free-speech-heres-a-lesson-on-the-anthem-the-flag-and-individual-
liberties/?utm_term=.6337ec835ca9. 7 October 2017.

Tribune Media Wire. "Do NFL Rules Require PLayers to Stand During the National Anthem?" 25
September 2017. Fox 31 News. http://wnep.com/2017/09/25/do-nfl-rules-require-players-to-
stand-during-the-national-anthem/. 7 October 2017.

"United States of America 1789 (rev. 1992)." 2014. Constitute.

https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/United_States_of_America_1992.pdf?lang=en.
7 October 2017.