By Billy Ingle
Currently in the National Football League, there are many players and coaches that have decided to join the social protest of taking a knee during the national anthem. There has been debate whether the protest is disrespectful or justified, what is not up for debate is how sports have been a useful platform for social protest for decades.
According to an article by Olivia B. Waxman in Time, one of the first social protest in sports came in 1965. This occurred when 21 of the American Football Leagues African-American players refused to play in the all-star game in New Orleans, when they faced discrimination all week leading up to the game.
Jorge Iber, a sports history professor at Texas Tech University, said athletes performing social protest in their respective sports is not necessarily common, but not uncommon either.
Iber said there have been social protest done in professional and collegiate sports that were forgotten after a period of time, without causing any true disturbance. There has also been other protests, Iber said, that received more attention and were more memorable.
“It doesn’t have to be something this controversial this out in the open,” Dr. Iber said. “There are a lot of different things that can happen that can cause change, and there are dozens of stories like that.”
Iber said he believes the reasoning behind the current social protest of taking a knee in the NFL, started by Colin Kaepernick, has become too distorted. He said with certain actions taken by Kaepernick, it has made it unclear what the true purpose of this particular protest is.
According to Waxman in the Time article, it states one of the leaders of the 1965 all-star protest Clem Daniels, addresses the current protest going on in the NFL. He said that given the chance, he would have told Colin Kaepernick that his way of going about his protest might not be the most sensible option. He said should have played the game, made the money, and put himself in a position to have a more long-term impact.
Chris Cook, managing director of communications & marketing at Texas Tech, said there has always some level of protest going on around sports throughout history.
Cook said he likes how athletes and celebrities use their platforms to bring attention to their respected causes. He said for others, he can see why they want athletes to just play or celebrities to just act, but he is not bothered one bit by it.
“In general, somethings I agree with, and some I may differ,” Cook said. “I appreciate the fact they use their platform to bring on attention.”
This particular social protest by the NFL players taking a knee, has over shadowed the intent of what it has set out to do, Cook said. Instead of addressing the intended issues of police brutality and racial inequality, the protest has now become more about expressing first amendment rights.
Hannah Hansard, a senior music education major at Texas Tech from Lubbock and participant in the women’s march protest, said when people protest they are standing up from something they believe in.
Hansard said it is beneficial for people to voice their opinions and concerns in the forms of protest. She said even though it can be intimidating speaking out against controversial topics, it helps by spreading awareness and sparking conversations.
“You have to be prepared for the backlash,” Hansard said. “If you’re passionate about something, then you should protest or show your beliefs in whatever way you feel is necessary”
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