Introduction
Colin Kaepernick and two of his teammates take a knee during the national anthem.[1]
Background
In this chapter, we discuss the U.S. National Anthem Protest, also known as #TakeAKnee, that took place mainly from 2016-2017. It began during the NFL preseason in 2016, in which 49ers quarterback at the time, Colin Kaepernick, refused to stand up for the national anthem. When asked for an explanation, Kaepernick stated that the act of taking a knee during the national anthem was a form of protest against police brutality and criminal injustices towards African-Americans.[2] While many players in the NFL and many other sports sympathized with Kaepernick’s motive, there were others that found such act of kneeling during the national anthem to be disrespectful and outrageous, including current President Donald Trump. We examine this social movement more in depth by analyzing the impact and role that different social media platforms had on #TakeAKnee.
Geographic Mapping
Geographically, there was a significant correlation to the more prominently favored side of the movement to political preferences in each state. Most states that supported #TakeAKnee tended to be blue states while most states that supported #BoycottNFL, a movement to boycott the NFL because athletes were “allowed” to not stand for the National Anthem, tended to be red states. This represents the common beliefs of each party, where people with more liberal views often support social justice movements, in comparison to people with more conservative views who often reflect on traditionalist patriotism or nationalism.
The map shows the most used hashtag by state, and there is a correlation between the states’ political tendencies to the hashtag preferred.[3]
Timeline
The movement started on August 26, 2016, when at the time former San Francisco quarterback, Colin Kaepernick was spotted sitting down during the national anthem. This was during the start of the NFL preseason.
On August 28,2016 during a football press, Kaepernick was finally approached by the media, and confronted him about his action, to what he responded: “We have a lot of people that are oppressed. We have a lot of people that aren’t treated equally, aren’t given equal opportunities. Police brutality is a huge thing that needs to be addressed. There are a lot of issues that need to be talked about, need to be brought to life, and we need to fix those.”[5]
After receiving numerous accusations saying that Kaepernick is simply trying to get attention, on September 1, 2016, Kaepernick announced that he will be donating one million of his salary to charity that included companies such as De-Bugs, which is an organization that advocates for criminal justice reform and police accountability. This is also happened the day that after Kaepernick had a conversation with previous green beret, Nate Boyer, advised Kaepernick to take a knee as a act of respects towards the people in the military. [6]
This movement quickly spread out to other sports since on September 6, Megan Rapinoe from the women’s national soccer team knelt during the national anthem as well.[7]
On September 22, 2017. During a campaign visit to the state of Alabama, President Trump harshly criticized the NFL and encouraged team owners to fire players that refuse to stand for the national anthem. President Trump challenged NFL owners to fire team players that knelt during the National anthem. It was on this day were his famous quote “Get that son of a bitch off that field…. He is fired!”[8]
On September 23, 2017. After President Trump’s comment regarding the #TakeAKnee movement that was taking place in the NFL mostly. NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, released the statement above in which he stated that the NFL stand with its players and their actions as well. [9]
On September 25, 2017. President Trump’s comments did not only instigated Roger Goodell since during the Monday Football game between the Cowboys and the Cardinals, Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones lead the team to take a knee together before the national anthem.[10]
On October 8, 2017. Vice-President Mike Pence walks out of the Indianapolis vs 49ers game after seeing that some of the 49ers players knelt during the national anthem. President Trump will later on tweet about the situation praising Vice-President Mike Pence’s actions. [11]
After severe backlash and outside pressure, the NFL approved the new national anthem policy in May 8,2018. This policy requires the players and league’s personnel on the sideline to stand during the national anthem. However, players and personnel have the option to remain in the locker room, during the national anthem, if they don’t choose to stand.[12]
Nike released its 30th year anniversary campaign ad on September 5, 2018. This ad used Kaepernick as the head of the campaign, as well Serena Williams and Lebron James. Soon after many Nike customers threaten to boycott Nike products, some even went as far as burning or cutting their Nike gear.
Also, President Trump tweeted that Nike was going to suffer major economic losses due to this ad, and that they should of thought about this better before releasing their 30th year campaign.[13]
The Nike ad generated all types of controversy, and while some threaten to boycott Nike, others including national athletes such as Lebron James and more, publicly showed the support towards Nike. And after a major backlash during the beginning of the campaign, by September 10, sales went up by 31% and it stock price reach its all time high of $79.68.[14]
Rapper Cardi B declines offer to participate in the halftime show of the super bowl. When ask for her reasons she said the following “I got to sacrifice a lot of money to perform. But there’s a man who sacrificed his job for us, so we got to stand behind him.” [15]
Movement Leaders & Allies
Colin Kaepernick
Colin Kaepernick has been the biggest key actor behind the #TakeAKnee movement. Kaepernick was a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. His decision to protest the national anthem during the 2016 NFL season sparked the controversy and inspired many other athletes to take a knee. Kaepernick first protest was refusing the stand up for the national anthem, sitting cross-legged on the bench. It wasn’t until Nate Boyer, a Green Beret, told Kaepernick that taking a knee was a respectable form of protest, often used in prayer or mourning a fallen soldier (Farmer, 2018).[16]
Kaepernick chose to take a knee during the national anthem as a peaceful protest against the flag and the national anthem. To Kaepernick, they represent the country that unjustly kills and oppresses black people and people of color. 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 (Wyche, 2016).[17]
Kaepernick became the face of #TakeAKnee, with many supporting and attacking him for his actions. Kaepernick inspired many other athletes to take a knee and has taken on a brand deal with Nike to further support his cause.
Eric Reid
Eric Reid is another influential actor in #TakeAKnee. Reid is a player for the San Francisco 49ers. Reid was a close friend and teammate to Colin Kaepernick and eventually joined Kaepernick in taking a knee. Reid explains that he was concerned about issues of police brutality, systemic oppression, and the problems with the criminal justice system. After seeing Kaepernick sit, he decided to join. He wanted to use their influence as NFL players to bring awareness and make a difference.[18]
Nate Boyer
Nate Boyer is a former United States Army Green Beret and Seattle Seahawks player. Nate Boyer was instrumental in defining #TakeAKnee. Before Boyer, Kaepernick simply refused to stand during the national anthem and would sit on the bench. It was Boyer who suggested to Kaepernick that kneeling was a respectful protest (Brinson, 2016).[19]
Marco Rubio
Senator Marco Rubio from Florida was the first member of the Republican party that although not publicly endorsed the act taking a knee during the national anthem, he did say that such act is protected under the player’s first Amendment. Senator Rubio publicly endorsed Miami Dolphin player Kenny Stills.[20]
Opponents
Donald Trump
President Donald Trump is a big opponent to the #TakeAKnee movement. Trump’s opposition to Kaepernick’s actions are what spurred the hashtag on Twitter and fueled rage and support towards the movement.
Demographics
#TakeAKnee is primarily about protesting the crimes and injustices that African Americans face. Therefore, the primary demographic is African American. As of 2016, 70% of the NFL was African American. According a poll, 37% of white respondents dislike Kaepernick while 42% of black respondents like him (Willingham, 2017).[21]
#TakeAKnee is different from similar movements like #BlackLivesMatter. Both movements protest the violence that African Americans face in America but they have different symbols and forms of protest. While #BlackLivesMatter uses in person protesting, #TakeAKnee requires protesting the national anthem and refusing to stand for the flag. #TakeAKnee is specific (thus far) to athletes and sports events, while #BlackLivesMatter expands across any occasion.
Organizations
One United Bank
OneUnited Bank, a Black owned bank in Florida started a TakeAKnee campaign to bring additional support to the #BlackOwned and #BuyBlack movements, and began donating to the ACLU in honor of a community member who is a survivor of police violence.
Social Media Presence
Social media played a significant role in widespread awareness of the #TakeAKnee movement and became a topic of national conversation. The movement went viral after President Donald Trump said at a rally, “Get that son of a bitch off that field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!”[22] Additionally, he reinforced his points online by tweeting numerous tweets opposing the actions of Colin Kaepernick and many other athletes, stating that it was disrespectful to the flag and the country. President Trump’s opposing actions brought attention to the movement that had already been going on for about one year, especially to those who did not watch or follow the NFL.
Platforms Used
#TakeAKnee was mostly used on Twitter, particularly due to the fact that one of the contributing factors to the initial spark of this movement was President Donald Trump’s tweets about the NFL, referring to kneeling during the anthem.[23] Twitter saw approximately 3.8 million tweets with the hashtag #TakeAKnee or #TakeTheKnee in just three days.[24] Facebook and Instagram were also used, but not nearly as significantly as Twitter. Yet notably, Instagram marks 236,000 posts with the hashtag to this day (April 2019).
Popular Hashtags
#TakeAKnee / #TakeTheKnee
Prominently, the most used hashtag during this movement was #TakeAKnee. It represented the entire movement and was the signature action that the athletes took. #TakeTheKnee was used in the same context and it presumably is due to user preference.
Google Trends show a significant boost in late September of 2017, which is around the time President Trump publicly showed his perspectives on the NFL. The above shows #TakeAKnee in blue and #TakeTheKnee in red.[25]
#ImWithKap
This hashtag was used by people who agreed with Kaepernick’s actions and by those who supported him through his conflicting relationship with the NFL concerning his acts. Initially when the #TakeAKnee movement sparked in 2017, #ImWithKap was not as popularly used as other hashtags relevant to the movement. It gained popularity through the sale of merchandise with the hashtag printed, sold by Kaepernick. He initially stated that 20% of all proceeds would go to the Know Your Rights Camp but after the jerseys sold out in just a few hours, he announced that all proceeds will be donated to the camp.[26] #ImWithKap was the most continuously used hashtag until the 2019 Super Bowl— nearly two years since the start of the movement. Many who still disagreed with the NFL’s treatment of Kaepernick and those in solidarity of criminal justice reform, including many celebrities, posted on social media of their opinions.
In particular, director Ava DuBernay tweeted that she would not spectate the Super Bowl to protest the NFL’s racist treatment of Kaepernick.[27]
#BoycottNFL
#BoycottNFL was the opposing hashtag that sided with President Trump’s views when #TakeAKnee gained attention. This hashtag was used by people who did not agree with Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players who kneeled during the national anthem and those who agreed with #BoycottNFL thought that it was disrespectful to kneel during the national anthem. However, many who disagreed proposed that it was disrespectful to kneel during the national anthem because they were disrespecting the flag and country or because they believed that politics should not be involved in professional athletics.[28] Remarkably, this was not Kaepernick’s intention in kneeling. His intention was to raise awareness the inequality Black people face in police brutality, and that he could not respect a country who unequally gave injustice to Black people.[29]
The graph shows the trends of each hashtag, #TakeAKnee in blue and #BoycottNFL in red. #Takeaknee significantly peaked around the end of September 2017 as the movement gained supporters. #BoycottNFL peaked around the same time, but it did not gain as much attention as #TakeAKnee. Overall, it shows that there were much more people who supported Kaepernick and many other athletes who protested.[30]
#BlackLivesMatter
Although #BlackLivesMatter did not have any direct correlation to #TakeAKnee, the intentions of raising awareness on police brutality the inequality Black people face in their lives are alike. #BlackLivesMatter began four years before #TakeAKnee gained attention and is a larger movement in size and with broader intention, focusing on the entirety of treatment Black people receive socially, economically, and politically.[31]
Key Tweets
The first use of #TakeAKnee was casually to discuss the act of taking a knee during a sports game during downtime. The hashtag earned its current meaning in 2016, when Kaepernick started to publicly protest. The first few uses of the hashtag were in support of Kaepernick, such as the one below.
The most important tweets to the #TakeAKnee movement is by far from Donald Trump. The hashtag gained momentum after President Trump spoke at an event, condemning the actions of Colin Kaepernick (Graham, 2017)[22]. Trump proceeded to tweet about his dismay towards NFL players that chose to take a knee. These tweets kick started the movement on Twitter.
This tweet from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter Bernice King blew up on Twitter. As the daughter of King, Bernice’s tweets of support for taking a knee drew lots of attention and drew parallels to Dr. King’s peaceful protests. Many argue that the act of taking a knee is a bad form of protest but as this parallel shows, it’s a respectable form of protest. King’s tweet gave a lot of credibility to the movement.
[37]
Many critics of the movement argued that taking a knee is disrespectful for to the flag and veterans who fought for America. As a result, veterans and veteran families came out in support of #TakeAKnee and argued that they fought for these players to use their first amendment rights. They felt that kneeling is a respectful form of protest and does not disrespect their service. Many tweets like these helped counter the main arguments against the players and proved that those arguments were false and unwarranted.
Meme vs. Cause
#TakeAKnee was more of a cause than a meme. The use of the hashtag and the act of taking a knee are serious forms of protest against police brutality and injustice in criminal justice system.
While the movement was not a meme, one grouping of memes from Twitter highlighted the irony of much of the backlash to the movement.
These memes highlight how the players who chose to peacefully protest are called terrible things and sent hatred while those that are nazis, racist, and xenophobic were called “fine people” by Donald Trump. The memes also show how those against the movement find the act of taking a knee to be the ultimate offense when there are black Americans literally being killed everyday by violence.
Role of Social Media and Growth Pattern
Social media played a huge role in the movement gaining momentum and media attention and presumably, it was essential to the growth of the movement. Offline, Colin Kaepernick has been taking the knee since 2016 and gained little attention. It wasn’t until Donald Trump’s statements in 2017 that sparked the movement online. The use of the hashtag blew up within the first few days, with about 4 million tweets being sent. The use of the hashtag and social media was all organic— users were tweeting about the protesting as a reaction to Donald Trump’s tweets and not as a planned movement with Kaepernick.
Analog Antecedents
#TakeAKnee and the protest done by Colin Kaepernick are often compared to the peaceful protests in the 1960’s civil rights movement. Kaepernick is often compared to Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As Bernice King’s tweet points out, taking a knee has long been used as a form of protest by African Americans. Many of the issues that Kaepernick protests today are remnants of slavery and the injustice against African Americans that continues to happen today.
The most influential antecedent is #BlackLivesMatter. The hashtag started as a result of violence and discrimination against black people and erupted during a time of police brutality. The goal of #BlackLivesMatter was to bring awareness to the issue of violent police killings against black people, which is directly related to #TakeAKnee.[43]
Impact of Movement
Social media played a huge role in the impact of the #TakeAKnee movement, because it was brought into the attention of a larger population of people. The movement was only locally known to NFL fans prior to the attention on social media.
Additionally, the NFL released an official statement stating that players were required to stand for the national anthem if they were on the field. Those who chose not to stand were required to stay in the locker room. Players and team personnel would be subject to fine if they violated the policy.[44] The diversion of the #TakeAKnee movement has grown large enough where it was necessary for the NFL owners to take action upon it.
Critiques of Movement
The major brand involved with this movement has been by far Nike. Nike has been known to use the most elite players in various sports categories as its headlines for its ad campaigns. However, for its 30th year ad campaign, Nike announced that Colin Kaepernick will be the face of their campaign, which came as surprise to many since Colin Kaepernick has not been an active athlete since the end of the 2016 NFL season. Nevertheless, regardless the fact that Kaepernick was no longer an active athlete and rather an activist, using him as the headline for their 30th year anniversary proved to be profitable since Nike’s sales increased by approximately 30 percent after the ad was released.
The increase in sales did not occurred momentarily since Nike faced some major backlash from some of its current customers at the beginning for its campaign, threatening to boycott all Nike products. This situation intensified once President Trump tweeted “What was nike thinking about?”. Despite the negative media, Nike was able to overcome this major roadblock primarily because the support and sponsorship of other athletes and its loyal customers.
President Trump has played a significant role in this movement, from calling players son of bitches to push the NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, to enforce penalties over players who refuse to stand for the national anthem. While many would of believe that the president’s actions will have a great amount of support from the political party, we saw the opposite. Divided opinions about #TakeAknee were present among the Republican party, especially from former Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Marco Rubio advocated for NFL player Kenny Stills, after this one decided to kneel during the national anthem on the opening game of the 2018 NFL season. Rubio supported Stills decision by tweeting the following, “No NFL player does more community service than Kenny Stills of the Miami Dolphins. You don’t have to agree with how or why he has chosen to exercise the 1st Amendment before every game to acknowledge the hours he gives voluntarily, on his day off, to serve his fellow Americans.” It is clear that Kaepernick’s action have not only affected the Overton window of the public but also the one for the politicians.
As for Kaepernick, the impact of this movement has greatly affected his career. While Kaepernick places about average compared to other NFL quarterbacks[45], he hasn’t played for the past 2 years and it doesn’t look like he will be chosen anytime soon. Teams have strayed away from Kaepernick because of his controversial status and as a result, he will most likely be unable to play in the NFL ever again.[46]
Conclusion
Although the #TakeAKnee movement is not as apparent in current media, it was a very iconic movement and represented the significance of a peaceful protest. The movement did not necessarily end, but the number of participants kneeling during the anthem significantly decreased after the national anthem policy took action in May 2018. The policy is on hold but the number of players protesting remain very low to none. #TakeAKnee made an impact on society with the help of social media, which played a huge part in bringing this movement to a larger audience than keeping it localized within NFL viewers, created conversations online, and brought many people to action. While the movement gained a lot of momentum, it lost a lot of credibility because of Kaepernick’s decision to capitalize on his fame and this movement with his sponsorship with Nike. Overall, the movement was successful in the way it opened the door into the conversation on first amendment rights, police brutality, the criminal justice system and what the national anthem and the flag represent.
Author Biographies
Nathanael Marquez | marquez94n@berkeley.edu
Nathanael is a fourth-year student majoring in Economics. He will be graduating in Spring 2019.
Cindy Oh | cindyoh@berkeley.edu
Cindy is a fourth-year Interdisciplinary Studies major focusing on the effects of social media and societal expectations on mental health. She will be graduating in Spring 2019.
Lynie Wong | wonglynie@Berkeley.edu
Lynie is a fourth-year Economics major. She will be graduating in Spring 2019.
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[25] <script type=”text/javascript” src=”https://ssl.gstatic.com/trends_nrtr/1754_RC01/embed_loader.js”></script> <script type=”text/javascript”> trends.embed.renderExploreWidget(“TIMESERIES”, {“comparisonItem”:[{“keyword”:”#takeaknee”,”geo”:”US”,”time”:”2017-09-15 2017-10-31″},{“keyword”:”#taketheknee”,”geo”:”US”,”time”:”2017-09-15 2017-10-31″}],”category”:0,”property”:””}, {“exploreQuery”:”date=2017-09-15%202017-10-31&geo=US&q=%23takeaknee,%23taketheknee”,”guestPath”:”https://trends.google.com:443/trends/embed/”}); </script>
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[27] @ava (Ava DuVernay). “I will not be a spectator, viewer or supporter of the #SuperBowl today in protest of the @NFL’s racist treatment of @Kaepernick7 and its ongoing disregard for the health + well-being of all its players. To watch the game is to compromise my beliefs. It’s not worth it. #ImWithKap.” Twitter, 3 Feb 2019, 8:13 a.m., https://twitter.com/ava/status/1092093707212312577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1092093707212312577&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fnation%2F2019%2F02%2F04%2Fimwithkap-how-colin-kaepernick-dominated-super-bowl-conversations-without-taking-field%2F.
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[32]@JaydaEvans. “Garfield football team will continue to knee during anthem; seeks meetings w police, community leaders #TakeAKnee” Twitter, 21 Sept. 2016, 4:56pm., https://twitter.com/JaydaEvans/status/778744750329384961
[33] @realDonaldTrump. “If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!” Twitter, 24 Sept 2017, 3:44AM., https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/911904261553950720
[34]@realDonaldTrump. “Courageous Patriots have fought and died for our great American Flag — we MUST honor and respect! MAKE AMERICAN GREAT AGAIN!” Twitter, 24 Sept 2017, 12:32PM. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/912037003923005440
[35]@realDonaldTrump. “Sports fans should never condone players that do not stand proud for their National Anthem or their Country. NFL should change policy!” Twitter, 24, Sept. 2017, 3:25PM., https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/912080538755846144
[36]@BerniceKing. “The real shame & disrespect is that, decades after the 1st photo, racism STILL kills people & corrupts systems. #America #TakeAKnee @POTUS” Twitter, 23 Sept 2017, 7:49AM. https://twitter.com/BerniceKing/status/911603501968642049
[37]@Khubbard991. “My husband died for your right to #TakeAKnee. He would have supported you; I support you. Sincerely, a military widow.” Twitter, 23 Sept. 2017, 2:34PM. https://twitter.com/Khubbard991/status/911705315758002176
[38]@brennanmgilmore. “My grandpa is a 97 year-old WWII vet & Missouri farmer who wanted to join w/ those who #TakeAKnee: “those kids have every right to protest.” Twitter, 24 Sept 2017, 7:27AM. https://twitter.com/brennanmgilmore/status/911960316220764160/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E911960316220764160&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bustle.com%2Fp%2F11-take-a-knee-memes-tweets-that-boldly-support-nfl-players-right-to-protest-2439660
[39]Willingham, AJ. “The #TakeAKnee protests have always been about race. Period.” CNN, CNN, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/us/nfl-anthem-protest-race-trump-trnd/index.html.
[40]@RVAwonk. “L: “Very fine people” R: “Sons of bitches”” Twitter, 23 Sep 2017, 6:52AM. https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/911589079275507712
[41] @AngWWells (Angela Walter Wells). “Would love if all @NFL players, staff, & fans took a knee just today as middle finger to #NotMyPresident. #TakeTheKnee.” Twitter, 24 Sep 2017, 6:14 a.m., https://twitter.com/AngWWells/status/911941863275470848.
[42]@Allie_F. Twitter, 23 Sep 2017, 10:58 a.m., https://twitter.com/Allie_F/status/911650976356069376.
[43] Friedersdorf, Conor. “How to Distinguish Between Antifa, White Supremacists, and Black Lives Matter.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 31 Aug. 2017, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/drawing-distinctions-antifa-the-alt-right-and-black-lives-matter/538320/.
[44] Seifert, Kevin and Dan Graziano. “New policy requires on-field players, personnel to stand for anthem.” ESPN, ESPN, 24 May 2018, http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/23582533/nfl-owners-approve-new-national-anthem-policy.