In today’s America, protests are almost an everyday thing. But one in particular has been blown out of proportion. The recent NFL “Take a Knee” protests have gained the attention of the media across America, either vilifying or glorifying the protesters. The intentions of these protests are to address the racial injustices of American society, such as police brutality.

The players shouldn’t receive so much animosity. Instead, they should be respected. I believe that the players have the right to protest, and I agree with their ideals.

The players involved with “Take a Knee” movement possess a right to peacefully protest, given to them by the First Amendment. Although, there are people that want to deny that right. They believe that since they’re taking a knee during the national anthem, they are “disrespecting the flag.” They’re not burning it. They’re not peeing on it. They’re just not standing during the anthem. Just because they choose to take a knee doesn’t make them a villain. It’s stupid to criticize them for this. Protesting is one of the most patriotic things you can do as an American. Our founding fathers gave us this right. Why not utilize it?

On October 18th, Roger Goodell, the NFL Commissioner, released a public statement stating that the NFL teams will not fire players who choose to protest. But, if a team were to fire a player, they are likely to go to through a very long and drawn out legal battle against the fired player. This is the case with Colin Kaepernick, the one who started this protest. Kaepernick filed a collusion grievance against the NFL and its owners. The filing states that the NFL “have colluded to deprive Mr. Kaepernick of employment rights in retaliation for Mr. Kaepernick’s leadership and advocacy for equality and social justice and his bringing awareness to peculiar institutions still undermining racial equality in the United States.” The file demands that if there is any collusion between any team or the NFL organisation, Kaepernick will be compensated for the denial of a job due to protesting. This is exactly why the NFL shouldn’t punish players for protesting. They will be sued.

A lot of people need to stop vilifying these players. They are only protesting against what they believe is wrong in today’s society. If you see something wrong in society and you want say something about it, what would you do? Just sit back and let it happen? Or will you use the best platform available to speak out against it, just as these players?

However, people shouldn’t glorify these players either. They’re only protesting. But, they should be respected. They are using a platform that millions of Americans view every week. It’s smart. They go through all this animosity to speak out against the injustices in America today. Instead of critiquing their form of protest, maybe you should try and see things from their point of view.