By Gina Flores

Writer for NoFakeNews

London, England – American professional footballers have been getting plenty of boos from their fans and other US citizens lately over their collective decision to publicly protest President Donald Trump’s recent comments about not standing for the country’s national anthem.

Mr. Trump used his Twitter platform this past weekend to deliver some very negative remarks against NFL players that had previously and repetitively taken a knee over the past year during national anthem ceremonies. The players have been protesting what they believe are major social/racial inequality issues that the American government refuses to address.

After the president delivered his recent remarks, players, coaches, and team owners, in a display of unity, demonstrated their full support for the other players called out by the president by also sitting, kneeling and interlocking their arms together during every contest’s national anthem ceremony this past weekend. The protests even touched UK soil as the same public display was observed at Wembley Stadium Sunday during the contest between the Ravens and Jaguars.

President Trump publicly called on all team owners and the league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell to fire players that refused to stand in the presence of the American flag during the playing of the national anthem. He later tweeted that American citizens should boycott games until the owners and commissioner fix their product so that players respected the American flag.

While many Americans believe that not standing for the anthem and flag is a sign of disrespect towards the country they love, others believe that sitting or kneeling during the national anthem is an American privilege and right. They believe all American citizens have been afforded the ability to protest anything within reason, in a peaceful manner, because of the American flag.

In my opinion, I think America is a great country and its citizens are really fortunate that they can openly protest when they believe something is unfair and justice is not being upheld for all citizens. In some other countries you would be thrown in jail or executed for doing what NFL players are doing. But that’s the unique and great thing about America, you can protest things that you disagree with. Protesting is what allows conversations to begin rolling and conversations that are rolling can potentially bring about change that would otherwise never materialize.

I believe that forcing people to stand during the American national anthem goes against everything that America represents. If you cannot protest something that you believe is fundamentally wrong and affecting so many people, then that becomes a bigger problem than what you were originally protesting, and that would also go against everything America is supposed to represent.

I can’t tell people how to think, nor should I, but I know how I feel about the current situation. Yes, people will have different points of view regarding these public displays of protest, but it’s really a beautiful thing to watch so many people talking and discussing important issues. None of these conversations would have ever materialized in the first place if a few people didn’t have the strength to kneel or sit down to ultimately take a stand.

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