Athletes And The National Anthem

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Athletes and the National Anthem

The recent actions by NFL players especially when the National Anthem is being played

before the commencement of a game, whereby the players kneel in unity and defiance, has led to

the development of some serious issues especially on the political scene. This is because these

actions have attracted the comments of the current presidents, Donald Trump, who has gone

ahead to advise team owners o fire the players who do not stand at attention in respect when The

Star-Spangled Banner begins to play. The goal of the committees of this action is based on the

actions of a former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, who also knelt when the

national anthem was played at the beginning of the game, to protest social injustice and police

brutality that mainly affects citizens of the African American descent. This scenario is similar to

Clifford Geertz’s discussion of the Balinese cockfight in ‘Deep fight: Notes on the Balinese

Cockfight’ which discusses the composition of culture as a collection or an ensemble made up of

other different ensembles (Geertz 200). This concept can thus be used in the analysis of the

defiance of NFL players to stand at attention when the National anthem is being played and

instead go down on one knee to express the issues of social injustice. This action thus presents

other hidden issues that the government and other institutions fail to address due to a collection

of further issues and thus agrees with the main message of Clifford Geertz in ‘Deep fight: Notes

on the Balinese Cockfight.'

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Geertz identified that in the Balinese culture, the deep detestation of animals defines an

identification of the people with their deep selves and their darkest truths. Geertz explains this

kind of a fight as a deep fight that has forced the people to lose their reasonableness as has been

demonstrated in the actions that have been demonstrated by these athletes in the recent past. The

burden of pain that these social injustices are also reflected in the exact actions where during the

Jacksonville Jaguars and the Baltimore Ravens game, where twenty-seven players all from an

African American perspective went down on a knee on the field as “The Star-Spangled Banner”

was sung. Geertz further goes ahead to discuss the members and reasons for these deep fights in

the Balinese culture, claiming that the dominant members of the society get involved in these

deep fights to simulate the social structure of social groups and classes as well as the societal

impacts of kinships (Belson 2). This simulation of Geertz’s sentiments about the Balinese culture

is clearly demonstrated in NFL athletes reaction to the National anthem, as it is about the social

injustices and the police brutality that the African Americans in this country experience on a

daily basis. The constitution grants every individual the right to express their voice in any

manner, and the rules of the game do not specifically dictate the position of the players while the

Anthem plays (St. Felix 1). Geertz clearly explains these deep fights as a social rivalry and social

tension, a situation that is also clearly demonstrated in the case of these athletes. He also claims

that after all it is just a cockfight and thus it is not necessarily defiance to the values or the

patriotism that these players feel for the USA.

Geertz also mentions the involvement of the most dominant participants in the society

being the main participants of the Balinese deep fights. The social rivalry in the situation of the

NFL players is well brought ought through the issues represented and the people involved in the

actual rivalry or fight for the sake of the society. In most African American societies, athletes are

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considered role models and successful people because they are part of those from the most

difficult backgrounds who have achieved the American dream. Thus the involvement of

President Donald Trump especially concerning the behavior of athlete before matches clearly

demonstrates a social rivalry between a dominant member of the white community and a couple

of dominant and influential members of the African American community. Geertz further

implies that the intensity of the cockfight in the Balinese culture which is also depicted in the

number of high profile contributors of American sports sector who have been dragged into

figuring a way to the resolution of these ensembles of issues (Belson 1). The team owners have

been forced into firing everyone who fails to stand at attention when the national anthem is being

played, and this shows how Geertz insinuation that the social rivalry is only a simulation of the

impact of the social group as well as the social structure of kinship. The social tensions

mentioned by Geertz between the African American and white races are also represented in this

cockfight, as the contributors of police brutality and social injustices against the African

American people are mainly white. This also represents the opposing social groups that are

depicted in the Balinese cockfights.

Geertz also mentions that the Balinese deep cockfight is a reflection of our deepest

concerns as well as a general insight into the existence of the society. He also goes ahead to

mention that fights symbolize real struggles in the real lives of the members of the society,

allowing them to channel their rivalry and aggression about these issues. These sentiments are

also true about the defiance of the African American players in the NFL to stand at attention as

The Star-Spangled Banner played. In expressing this defiance, the players are able to channel the

sentiments about the social injustices people of their race have to encounter. It also reflects the

deepest concerns of police brutality and other forms of social concerns that this community has

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had for ages which are the real struggles that this community experiences. This has also been

done in other sporting events, thus making it another form of social concern that these players

feel when they are barred from expressing their struggles. Other successful cases have been

demonstrated in Colin Kaepernick’s example in 2016, Jackie Robinson, a former baseball

champion who also sites failing to stand or sing the anthem on racial grounds, as well as Tommie

Smith and John Carlos’ case of 1968 (Jacobson 1). The struggle in the case of the NFL players

presents a struggle in the cultural and the social structure of the American society, in the same

manner, that Geertz represents the same social and cultural issues of the Balinese people through

the deep cockfight as described in ‘Deep fight: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight.'

Thus, while the manner chosen by NFL players before the commencement of any match

when the National Anthem is being played might upset many, it represents the struggle that these

athletes and their communities undergo on a daily basis. The defiance represented in this action

is only an expression of the rivalry and aggression that this group feels and this is a lot like the

struggles represented by Clifford Geertz in ‘Deep fight: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight.' Since

the actions of these athletes are similar to those of the Balinese people, it is easier to understand

that the players are only taking advantage of their position in their community to raise awareness

on the issues of police brutality and other social injustices they experience. As such these players

should be allowed to voice their struggles as it is their constitutional right, and since it does

offend any of the rules of the game before its commencement.

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Works Cited

Geertz, Clifford. "Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese cockfight." Culture and Politics. Palgrave

Macmillan US, 2000. 175-201.

Belson, Ken. “Goodell and N.F.L. Owners Break From Players on Anthem Kneeling Fight.” The

New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Oct. 2017,

www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/sports/football/nfl-Goodell-anthem-kneeling.html.

Félix, Doreen St. “What Will Taking the Knee Mean Now?” The New Yorker, The New Yorker,

27 Sept. 2017, www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-appearances/what-will-taking-the-

knee-mean-now.

Jacobson, Louis, and Bloggers on the Internet.“A short history of the national anthem, protests

and the NFL.”PolitiFact, 25 Sept. 2017, www.politifact.com/truth-o-

meter/article/2017/sep/25/short-history-national-anthem-and-sports/.

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