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Jade Hammock

Professor Val

Eng 101-16

22 October 2021

Take A Knee

The hashtag Take A Knee movement started in 2016. This movement is a well known

movement across America that some people agree with and some people do not. During

preseason of the NFL games, on August 26, 2016, Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the

national anthem. He did this to protest against criminal justice and police brutality against

African Americans. He believes that the United States flag and the national anthem represents a

country that is okay with killing and oppressing black men and women, and he refused to stand

for such things. This action struck up the hashtag movement #takeaknee, with the original post

by Jayda Evans in late 2016 (Evans). Kaepernick considered this a very peaceful protest, and I

feel the same way. In no way shape or form was what Kaepernick was doing affecting or hurting

other people. He didn’t disrupt the national anthem, he didn’t talk, he just sat down quietly

instead of standing up for something that he does not believe in. More than half of America

disagrees with Kaepernick and followed the hashtag #BoycottNFL (Marquez et al.). #Takeaknee

was very inspirational and it showed that enough is enough by how it was executed and why it

was so important.

The rhetor of this movement, Colin Kaepernick, was a quarterback for the NFL 49ers. He

knew what was going on was not okay and thought something should be done. He knew that if

he did something it would reach the entire country, because most people watch football, and his

voice would be heard. Police men, government officials, the President, and just common normal
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people in this society looked at football and he wanted to reach them all. I don’t think he had a

target audience, but he knew all of America would see his protest and what he was protesting

about. Starting this movement was a big deal to him, he risked his career for it, and in the end

lost his job. Kaepernick protested in a way that we should all consider and think about, he did it

peacefully.

My personal interpretation of the #takeaknee movement is a peaceful protest during the

national anthem that shows that America has taken things too far. African Americans have

experienced way beyond enough pain and brutality from this country and enough is enough.

Why should we stand up for a country’s flag that doesn’t even stand up for us, its own people.

Martin Luther King Jr’s daughter posted a tweet with this hashtag (picture number 1). This tweet

is a side by side picture of when Martin Luther King Jr took a knee as a peaceful protest and

when Kaepernick did. The arrangement of this tweet is everything. These two pictures are

decades apart and they are protesting for the same thing. This is a perfect example of what this

tweet means to me. The delivery is saying that this has been going on for too long and enough is

enough. My interpretation for this tweet coincides with how Kaepernick intended it to be.

According to Moveme, “Kaepernick believes he cannot proudly stand for a country that

continues to hurt his people and his community and a country that allows those that commit these

wrongdoings to walk free” (Marquez et al.). I feel the exact same way. Some people might argue

that the killings are justified or that even though these things are happening, sitting down for the

national anthem is disrespectful. People have a right to have their own opinion and choice, so

why can’t I get to choose whether I sit down or not? Especially if I am not hurting or hindering

you in any way. I believe that the hashtag says this all.
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This hashtag is very direct and it is saying exactly what is taking place. Many other NFL

players joined this movement as well. The kairos of the hashtag was timed perfectly. This

happened after the killing of Trayvon Martin. He was a young boy that was walking on the street

with a hoody on and got killed by a white man. This might have sent Kaepernick over the edge, I

know it would’ve sent me over the edge too. With this being said, this hashtag has pathos written

all over it. It is filled with emotion because that is all there is to it. It makes me sad that we have

to be protesting at all about this, but it’s what we have to do. This hashtag movement is a

nonverbal visual representation, procedural of the domains of rhetoric. Usually protests about

hashtag movements are done by shouting chants, storming the streets, breaking things, and etc.

This hashtag movement on the other hand is silent but loud. They are embodied in the movement

and that is what makes this movement so special.

#BoycottNFL is the opposing side of this movement. These are the people that think that

what Kaepernick did was disgraceful and disrespectful. These people are 9/10 republican and

think that what is going on to people of color is justified. Most of America are opposed to this

hashtag movement and are grateful that Kaepernick got banned from the NFL. But that is not

how I see it. People should be allowed to protest and choose whether they want to stand up for

the national anthem or not. It is not in the constitution that we have to stand up for it and it is not

a law that we have to abide by. This is supposed to be the so-called “land of the free” but we do

not act like it. Trayvon Martin “has” the freedom to walk down the street, yet he got killed. Why

can’t we protest freely, take a knee freely, or choose whether I want to stand or sit freely without

getting fired. Like I said previously, this movement is saying enough is enough and if the people

of America can not see that, peacefully, then we as a country have a problem.
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People are entitled to their own point of view, so here is my point of view that opposes

#BoycottNFL. The #takeaknee movement is revolutionary. We need to go back to how

Kaepernick protested and learn from that. Taking a knee is not just for police brutality, but it is

taking a knee for what you believe in and standing strong even if people do not agree with you.

My interpretation of this movement is that enough is enough and if people cannot see that, I feel

sad for them. This hashtag movement was direct, persuasive, it reached out to the entire country

(whether they agreed or disagreed), and it was very revolutionary.

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Works Cited

Evans, Jayda. “Garfield Football Team Will Continue to Kneel during Anthem; Seeks

Meetings w Police, Community Leaders #Takeaknee Https://T.co/v2s1sh6xbj

Pic.twitter.com/1c4T94jIPs.” Twitter, Twitter, 21 Sept. 2016,

https://twitter.com/JaydaEvans/status/778744750329384961.

Marquez, Nathanael, et al. “#Takeaknee.” #MoveMe, 26 Aug. 2016,

https://moveme.berkeley.edu/project/takeaknee-2/.
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(Marquez et al.)

(Evans)