Social Media Case Assignment

    I personally support the right that Americans have to peaceably protest. I also have great respect for this nation and our flag. To me the flag represents the ideal of freedom, and those who have fought for us to have that freedom. So my initial reaction to the NFL players protest by kneeling during the National Anthem is kind of one of upset. If something is happening in America and you don’t like it, what makes you think you can disrespect something so powerful and something that represents so much more than what you disagree with? I’ll admit when I first started hearing about this with Colin Kaepernik, I was angry.

        After reading different articles and seeing different points of view, I have changed my mind a little. These players have made it clear that they aren’t trying to disrespect the country, and especially not the troops who defend it. It’s their way of spreading a message about social justice, and inequality happening in the nation. While it still makes me a little uneasy, I’m more accepting of it after understanding why they’re doing it.

Many people are against this protest, but many people, including veterans, are. In one of the articles I read, four veterans discussed why they supported the protest. Almost all of the 200 comments expressed support for the protest, and anger towards President Trump. Many feel that since he never served, he has no right speaking for veterans. The also feel he is using this as a platform to promote himself, and to distract from other things happening in his administration that he doesn’t want people to focus on. One athlete tweeted how he felt like if Trump is telling him to stick to sports, then Trump should have to stick to politics.

Trump’s position on the protest is that it is sheer disrespect and that anybody caught kneeling should be fired. He has a huge influence as the President, but cannot personally fire any of the players, because it is not illegal to kneel during the anthem. But he is using his influence to put pressure on those that can. Using the four F’s we discussed in class, he is only being true to one of them.

·         Fair: He isn’t acknowledging the reasons behind the protest, he isn’t letting the players share their side of the story.

·         Factual: This is the one he’s being true to, he is using facts, the players are kneeling. Trump did not make that up.

·         Full: He’s leaving out part of the story, he’s saying they’re being disrespectful, he doesn’t include their platform.

·         Faith: I can only guess what his motivations are, but based off the article I read, veterans aren’t happy with Trump ‘speaking’ for them. Thousands of veterans agree, and some participate in the protest. If feels as if Trump is supporting it because he wants to support the troops.

Trump’s actions and tweets have caused contention with many people. His behavior has caused prominent people to not want to associate with him. Stephen Curry expressed not wanting to go to the Whitehouse. Trump then tweeted that Curry was no longer invited. I feel like that is a little childish. It’s like when you were little and someone was mean to you, so you said they aren’t invited to your birthday party. Curry was taking a stance and saying he doesn’t agree with the President’s behaviors and views, which he has every right to do. It was as if Trump was trying to save face in rescinding the invitation, but he only made himself look more foolish. 

 https://thinkprogress.org/trump-veterans-nfl-protests-interviews-f3be7b372725/

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/23/sports/trump-nfl-nba.html?action=click&contentCollection=Sports&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article