#TakeAKnee or #TakeASip?

On Sunday, my various social media feeds were full of tweets, posts, and pictures with #TakeAKnee. Of course, the fact that I work, work, work, work everyday and don't have much time for politics caused me to go: Take a what? 

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Therefore, I started clicking on articles and checking out various Facebook posts to find out what was happening. As it turns out, #TakingAKnee during the National Anthem was a form of protesting violence against African Americans by Police and supporting the #BlackLivesMatter movement. The President of the United States tweeted about how disrespectful and un-American this act was and bashing the NFL for allowing it to happen.

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I don't have any interest in football and sports. Never have and probably never will. But this act was pure brilliance and here's why:

The amount of publicity achieved by #TakeAKnee was immense. Whether a media outlet supported or didn't support the protest, they were still talking about it. They were still getting other people to talk about it. Everyone knew about #TakeAKnee, and they were TALKING about it. 

Do I think that kneeling during the national anthem is the most respectful thing to do? No, I do not. However, disrespecting America was not the goal. The goal was to take a stand by not taking a stand, and to get people to talk about this issue.

I also think that what is more disrespectful to Americans and America is when a protest is filled with violence and destruction. Those for or against #BlackLivesMatter can/have done more damage by causing riots and outbreaks of violence for those of the opposing sides. I don't think that taking a knee during a football game is that detrimental. 

In America, we have the right to freedom of speech and assembly by the bill of rights. Nowhere in the Constitution, Pledge, National Anthem, any government document created by our founding fathers that you must stand during the National Anthem. Therefore, these football players were exercising their rights granted to them by America and yet some people don't like or support that. 

But, hey, that's none of my business.

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