Political Football: Masculinity, Nationhood and Politics in Sports

In the last few weeks, the US National Football League has become the battlefield of the very definition of patriotism. It’s President Trump against a group of NFL players, who have protested racism and social injustice by kneeling or raising their fists during The Star Spangled Banner. The protests began more than a year ago, but Trump set things off on Sept. 22nd when he demanded that players who fail to stand during the national anthem should be fired or suspended. Trump says that refusing to stand during the national anthem is disrespectful to the flag. Defenders of the kneelers say the protest is itself an expression of American patriotism honoring the tradition of dissent.