Chandler Olson
10/3/2017
One
of our nations biggest sporting events has been thrown through a loop the past
couple weeks. As many football players have been tanking a knee, sitting, and holding
their fist in the air or even staying inside during the national anthem. The
reason for these actions is to raise awareness to social inequality, as well to
stand against the police hurting the blacks. President Donald Trump posted on
twitter September 30, 2017 “Very important that NFL players STAND tomorrow, and
always, for the playing of our National Anthem. Respect our Flag and our
Country!” This tweet has caused a lot of controversy through out the NFL and
the people’s view of our president.
Many people have gone against Trump
as they feel that he should be supporting them in a way of social inequality.
Instead of trying to blame those players who are standing up for what they
believe in. Later that week during a speech Trump said and I quote “Get that
son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he’s fired” for any football
player who doesn’t stand for the national anthem. To state my own opinion I
think that Trump is handling this in a wrong manner. I feel that he should be
addressing the real issue of blacks against the police force. Many football
players have started to go further against Trump by joining forces with there
teammates. Last Sunday more than 100 football players took a knee during the
national anthem to show there position on the subject. Donald trumps speaker of
the house Paul Ryan spoke out on the controversy saying that he truly believes
that our president’s heart is in the right place by standing up for our country
and the anthem that is supposed to represent our unity as one.
Just
as trump has been dealing with the NFL there have been some current issues with
the way Trump is handling the NBA. A few weeks ago on September 23, 2017 Trump
tweeted “Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a
championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is
withdrawn!” This tweet was directed at
Stephen Curry a two time MVP of the NBA, Curry who is currently a Golden State
Warriors basketball player. Curry was undecided on whether or not he would
accept the invitation to the white house. Sadly enough as Curry was deciding if
he would join his team in a trip to the white house. He received a tweet from
the president saying that his invitation was withdrawn. When the tweet was
first posted it was unclear on whether or not the invitation was withdrawn from
just Curry or the whole team. The team said that Trump “made it very clear that
we are not invited”. I feel that this is very sad that trump has made such a
big impact on such an amazing team. The team has decided that they are still
going to take a trip to Washington D.C. in February in order to highlight
issues with diversity and inclusiveness. I truly respect that the warriors as a
team are willing to join together and stand for what they believe in. Curry
said in a press conference that he hopes that this will open people’s eyes to
see as the rest of us see.
