Using a counter-narrative approach (from week 2) type a 3-4 page essay on the knowledge gained through the semester and the transformative impacts it has had on your own identity and understanding of

INTERSECTION

NAME:

INSTITUTION

The story I will be investigating will be ‘athletes take a knee against Israel’s occupation’ which was published by David Zirin in 28th/FEB/2020.

Am not a fun of sports this is because I take them to be not as interesting as I want hence it is rare to find me watch these teams play and remember who won at a particular match and who lost as some people do it? It is true to say that I am fascinated by how politics are intersection with race, sports, class and power. There is not time that I have ever thought of sports intersectional with politics until I read of Colin Kaerpernick when the national anthem was being sung of the football games. He choose not to stand as it should be even if it did not serve as any form of justice it shown how the black people in his country were being oppressed together with police brutality.

This led to a number of conversations and arguments of how the sports were intersection with politics. When Colin Kaerpernick knelt down it brought awareness of the injustice was being done to his country for the black people leading to racism and police brutality that was rampant. This act led to a number of reactions and feelings from the people. Some people were really angry for this action and felt there should be disciplinary action, they said that he never knew anything about racism.

There was another group of people who felt that he was doing the right thing and has brought the hidden vices to the light, they should be in solidarity with him to stop it. As I researched about Colin Kaerpernick I realized that he had a past of protesting about this. Colin Kaerpernick had done what was right to bring to light what was hidden in the society for a long time.

This had been happening previously where Colin Kaerpernick copied from the past example we have where during the Israel’s national anthem, there are two players by the names Hunnan Butt and Omar Rezika of Yeshiva university who has to knee every time before the game starts so that he can protest against the state violence and racism which was against the apartheid policy of the Palestinians in Gaza who are over two million who are in the open air prisons and are usually surrounded by walls and checkpoints.

They do not want to stand when the Israel national anthem is being sung and do nothing. The two were attacked by not only time people but also the president of the university. Who claimed that kneeling down during the national anthem is not only a patriotic movement but also religious. Which means that you have to do it.

Different athletes have done the kneeling before a national anthem is sung which has brought a number of issues which is brought controversies on whether their moves were patriotic or just to incite people. Some have been abused and other even being hated.

This is where the intersection of both sports, race and politics begin, this is because these people do these actions since they are claiming and want the people to stop being brutalized, as we have seen for the black people are being abused and the police are using their weapons against a particular race of people.

Reference

David Zirin, D. (2020). A people's history of sports in the United States: 250 years of politics, protest, people, and play. The New Press.