The patriotic pomp and glitz around it makes America’s sporting obsession, the National Football League (NFL), an unlikely platform to highlight the racial and economic inequality in the country. The disproportionate number of wealthy African American players is a distraction from the structural prejudices the community is up against. However, last year, African American players brought racial injustice to the national spotlight with an innovative mode of protest — by refusing to stand up when the national anthem was played at the league’s games.
This hugely controversial, and highly visible, form of protest continues into the 2017-18 season. At the opening match on Thursday night, Kansas City Chiefs’ Marcus Peters refused to stand up when the U.S. national anthem was played. Several other players are planning to protest through the season.
Shaken by brutality against blacks
It began last year with a lonely, silent revolt by Colin Kaepernick, a player from San Francisco 49ers, amidst a highly contentious presidential campaign and against the backdrop of recurring incidents of police brutality against African American people. Mr. Kaepernick, born to a white mother and black father, was shaken by the violence against African Americans. When he first chose to sit during the national anthem, no one even noticed. However, within the first week of his protest, it began making national headlines. “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour. I am not looking for approval. I have to stand up for people that are oppressed. If they take football away, my endorsements from me, I know that I stood up for what is right,” he had said then. Within the first week, 11 other players joined him. And the mode of protest spread to other sporting events. Even then-President Barack Obama weighed in, telling that the protest had raised valid concerns.
Mr. Kaepernick is unemployed this year, as none of the 32 teams hired him. There is no way to prove that his unemployment is due to his anthem protest but many people, including President Donald Trump, think that is the reason. Mr. Kaepernick had called Mr. Trump, then a candidate, “openly racist”. Mr. Trump hit back by telling “...maybe he should find a country that works better for him. Let him try. It won’t happen”. After it became clear that Mr. Kaepernick won’t be able to play this season, Mr. Trump, now the President, took credit for it. Speaking at a rally earlier this year, he said: “They (NFL owners) don’t want to get a nasty tweet from Donald Trump. Do you believe that?” All 32 teams are owned by white people, and seven of them contributed more than $1 million each to Mr. Trump’s campaign last year.
This year, Seth DeValve from Cleveland Browns became the first white player to protest by choosing to kneel during a pre-season match as the national anthem was on.
Mr. DeValve, who is married to an African American, said: “It saddens me that in 2017 we have to do something like that... the United States is the greatest country in the world… The issue is that it doesn’t provide equal opportunity to everybody.”
The decline in NFL viewership last year was attributed partly due to the presidential campaign. However, some also linked it to the anthem protests. The viewership still averaged 17.6 million per match and the Super Bowl, the final in February, was watched by more than 111 million people. This year, the broadcasters have said that they will show the protests if and when they happen — they see an important story there.
Varghese K. George works for The Hindu and is based in Washington DC.