By Erica O’Neal

Managing Editor

Let’s talk about the NFL’s new rule saying that all players must stand for the National Anthem or get a fine. As I hope everyone realizes, this is a political stance the NFL is taking to cater to a white audience that players do not get a say in free speech. The majority of players who are in the NFL are minorities and if you pay attention to why they are taking a knee, it is not to “disrespect the flag” or “disrespect the military.” It is to protest police brutality against minorities.

A prime example is the NBA player, Sterling Brown who was physically taken down by a stun gun and multiple Milwaukee police officers in January 2018, all because of a parking citation.

Another example is from last month, Monday, April 30, when seven Rialto Police cars and a helicopter shut down a neighborhood in California because a neighbor thought three black women were robbing a house. One of those women was Bob Marley’s granddaughter and they were packing up their belongings after staying at an Airbnb.

Let us not forget that just last month, April 21, 2018 a rally for Neo-Nazis in Newnan, Ga. was held legally from 3 to 5 p.m. 10 people were arrested during the rally.

Let me also remind readers about the rally of white nationalists in Charlottesville, Va. in August 2017 where the event turned violent. An Ohio man drove his car through a crowd of pedestrians, injuring 19 people and killing one woman.

I cannot believe I have to write this, but why does a labeled hate group, who are clearly against everything the United States stands for, allowed more freedom of speech than NFL players who peacefully protest by taking a knee?

Those NFL players are exercising their Constitutional right to peacefully protest. It is what makes America the country it is and reminds us all that while we may be proud of how far we have come, we still have a long journey ahead of us.