Micah
Metz
Dr.
Stephanie Brown
English
306
September 15, 2016
Rough Draft
Football, as one of America's most popular sports, is deeply
infused with patriotic ritual. The singing of the national anthem before each
game, and, on more special
occasions, jets flying overhead, creates an atmosphere of national pride and
reverence to all institutions that help protect it. With that common understanding in place it's
understandable why Collin Kapernick's actions have started so much controversy
within the football community.
During the latter half of the NFL pre-season, Kaepernick began sitting during
the national anthem before games. While widely interpreted as disrespect to
flag and country, Kaepernick has identified his actions as a protest for racial
injustice in the nation, most explicitly
citing incidents of police brutality against minorities. With several isolated
incidents of this kind of brutality being publicized in close succession in recent
times, there is an air of distrust for authorities and animosity towards
institutions that reflect a bias against people of color. With Kapernick's
celebrity status and a taboo protest method, this comprises one of the more
recent rhetorical strategies employed in the discussion
about institutionalized racism.
Kaepernick's actions follow a series of tumultuous events over the past few years involving police killings of unarmed black men. Individuals such as Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and the subsequent protests that arose because of their fatalities has created a political climate more sensitive to the methods of police forces and the most common type of victims in these instances. While there seemed to be a notion that institutionalized racism has decreased over the years since the days of the civil rights movement, the spotlight on these events has persuaded many that perhaps the nation has not come as far as many people once believed. Kaepernick, in an interview, alludes to the turbulent atmosphere between minorities and police force, and posits that there needs to be greater awareness:
Kaepernick's actions follow a series of tumultuous events over the past few years involving police killings of unarmed black men. Individuals such as Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and the subsequent protests that arose because of their fatalities has created a political climate more sensitive to the methods of police forces and the most common type of victims in these instances. While there seemed to be a notion that institutionalized racism has decreased over the years since the days of the civil rights movement, the spotlight on these events has persuaded many that perhaps the nation has not come as far as many people once believed. Kaepernick, in an interview, alludes to the turbulent atmosphere between minorities and police force, and posits that there needs to be greater awareness:
People don't realize what's really
going on in this country. There are a lot of things that are going on that are
unjust. People aren't being held accountable for. And that's something that
needs to change. That's something that this country stands for freedom, liberty
and justice for all. And it's not happening for all right now (ESPN).
Kaepernick’s
purpose can be seen as a drive to raise awareness about unjust policies,
tendencies, or laws that target minorities. Taking the current political
climate into perspective one could assume that many people are already pretty
familiar with the topic, but past demonstrations and decries have left many
spectators with mixed, undecided feelings on the subject. The rioting in
Ferguson, Missouri, for example, were seen negatively for the destruction that
ran rampant throughout the town, regardless of the persecution that the
residents might have felt regarding their community’s safety. Kaepernick's nonviolent, celebrity-status protest is
one that has the potential to speak to a wide audience of people who are both
in the category that he
intends to represent (minorities who have been consistently been more likely
targets for police assault) as well as onlookers whom he might sway. While his
actions are still seen as disrespectful to many people, it’s presented in a way
that the media tolerates; it has generated discussion with an interpretation
more positive than that of a violent riot.
Kaepernick’s contribution to this wider civil rights movement is rife with the ethos of American values and how they are not being upheld in key areas. The flag that is honored ceremonially along with the singing of the anthem is an important item of national identity and is closely associated with military forces who are said to protect the freedoms that it represents. Any protests involving the display of the flag necessarily bring up the positive attributes of our nation that it is commonly said to represent; the choice to use this object of protest in a way deviant to the customs of respecting it is taboo and generates emotional response. But when asked about whether or not his form of protest was acceptable or not, the NFL player said:
Kaepernick’s contribution to this wider civil rights movement is rife with the ethos of American values and how they are not being upheld in key areas. The flag that is honored ceremonially along with the singing of the anthem is an important item of national identity and is closely associated with military forces who are said to protect the freedoms that it represents. Any protests involving the display of the flag necessarily bring up the positive attributes of our nation that it is commonly said to represent; the choice to use this object of protest in a way deviant to the customs of respecting it is taboo and generates emotional response. But when asked about whether or not his form of protest was acceptable or not, the NFL player said:
To me, this is a freedom that we're allowed in this country.
And going back to the military, it's a freedom that men and women that have
fought for this country have given me this opportunity by contributions they
have made . . . This is something that has to be said, it has to be brought to
the forefront of everyone's attention, and when that's done, I think people can
realize what the situation is and then really affect change (ESPN).
While
national pride is alive and well in America, an important distinction that
Kaepernick makes and is popular in the minds of citizens is that the honor due
to the flag is still optional; being a symbol of freedom, it grants the freedom
to behave deviant from norms. This commonly held notion makes Kaepernick’s
demonstration and proclamation of beliefs effective because it’s meant to
deviate from norms in a way that doesn’t denounce the intended framework of the
norm’s original implication. That is to say, his subtle decry of national
trends is meant to say that the standards outlined by patriotic belief are not
in effect in the real world, but need to be, and that there is potential for
them to be.
Considering Kaepernick’s purpose to raise further
awareness and to inspire people to affect change, the media coverage his
actions have garnered demonstrate, in some respect, a degree of success in his
strategy; most notably by targeting an emotionally changed aspect of patriotic
ritual. Kaepernick has received support from his teammates, and while the
public’s reception of him tends to be mixed, he hasn’t been made into an
anathema for his actions. The notion of his that national policy and trends
need to change before the identity of this country is to be respected calls for
a higher level of performance from Americans, which some could interpret as an
important patriotic value in itself, and it is this social criticism that is made out of a deeper identification as a member of the society that makes this protest usable to a wider audience.
Works
Cited
First let me say that I thought this was a great analysis of the Kaepernick protest. I believe that your overall structure and organization of the paper is very well done. All your paragraphs are relatively even and makes this very fluent and easy to read. The identity has been clearly stated within this paper and you have made the audience very clear to anyone reading this firsthand.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is stated within your paper, I would like to see and expansion of just how effective Kaepernicks actions have been and what effect it has had (if any) regarding the idea it is protesting. Another comment I have would be to go into more detail regarding the use of E/P/L and explain specifically how the use of (Ethos) is made, you have a lot of information that could support the use of ethos, however I think the paper fails to fully explain just how ethos is related back the “American Values” and why it would fall under the category of ethos.
The paper does hit all major criteria points, and personally I think the work that needs to be done is on the “local level”. You have a lot of great information within your paper, I just think that during some parts, it seems very general. In the sense that you begin to explain a point or topic, and then you move on. Maybe if possible you could expand upon some of the points you have already made and give more examples or details of certain events, such as what some of the public reactions have been (good or bad) and how/why you think Kaepernick was able to evoke this.
I very much enjoyed reading this analysis, and believe you have made many great points with supporting details. Overall the structure of this paper was easy to read, and believe you were able to identify your audience and effectively write towards it.
I think your wrote a great paper with a strong topic. All of the paragraphs were organized in the correct order and everything just flowed. I was unable to detect the audience that this was being addressed to in your paper. Audiences that you could consider listing are those who do not see the point or history behind his protest,those of political power or generally, celebrities who have the opportunity to make a difference and spread the word to spark awareness.
ReplyDeleteSeeing as this is the rough draft, I feel that it doesn't have enough context to understand the object as yet; although what is already on your analysis is very good, strong and well structured. What context that is already on your paper is very relevant and ties into your whole paper well.
After reading this paper, I am persuaded by the account of the protest's purpose and I think you hit the nail on the head as to why Kaepernick has decided to protest.
Also, I did not see any relation with either ethos, pathos or logos as yet and I'm guessing that you will be adding this part in once you've had more time to develop your paper.
I think your paper has achieved it's purpose and I definitely agree with your assessment, although I feel like your ideas could be expanded on.
It was a little difficult in the beginning for me to pick up on the evidence you provided for your claims.
I think the weaknesses in this paper stem from a brief analysis. The ideas and claims that you make are amazing but I have yet to see the paper go into a little depth. I think the work that should be done is on a local level. Everything seems to be summarized and if you just broadened and elaborated on the ideas you already have, you could have a very strong paper.
Hey Micah, I really enjoyed reading your paper. As far as your argument clarity goes, you have a lot of really great information on what your object is, the context that surrounds your object, and the success of your object, but I think that your analysis of use of rhetorical appeals could be improved. You mention some persuasive aspects of this situation, but you don’t go into depth about specific utilization of E/P/L. You do talk a little about ethos, but you don’t go in depth about it or discuss the other forms of rhetorical appeals. Even if the other rhetorical appeals weren’t really used by your object, why weren’t they? Was it because of the audience? Or was it a missed opportunity by Kaepernick? Why was ethos so successful in this scenario? How was its use shaped for the intended audience? I think these are all some questions you could answer in your paper that would strengthen your arguments.
ReplyDeleteYour paper flowed well, the organization made sense. However, your organization within paragraphs of the claims, reasons, and evidence could use some work. For example, your paragraph that follows the quote. The organization of the technical components related to the quote aren’t clear, and I think that a clear structure is crucial to the clarity and strength of your argument. A piece of advice to help with the organization (this would help me at least), is to break your paragraphs into pieces and looks at what are your claims, what are your reasons, and what evidence supports this. If you can do this, you can better see the trajectory of your arguments. I think it’ll be easier to adjust the organization of the paper once you’ve added in more analyses of the rhetoric, because as of right now there is more background information than there is analysis. If you ordered your body paragraphs to discuss background and then go into rhetorical appeals, or to discuss a specific rhetorical appeal and immediately back it up with some more background information.
A few revisions to make:
ReplyDelete1.) Expand on other rhetorical uses of ethos and logos, and if one isn't used much provide an explanation on why that might be.
2.) Maybe provide another source that can outline people's reaction to Kaepernick's actions in a way that doesn't rely on my generalizations.
3.) I feel like I should reorganize a few sentences in a way that would make transitions easier and also explain quoted material more thoroughly in an organized manner. When I add to this paper it will most likely entail me reorganizing things regardless.