On August 14th, 2016, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick quietly sat on the bench during the singing of the national anthem. Practically no one noticed at the time, and surely no one could have foreseen the massive social and political phenomenon that occurred in part because of Kaepernick’s silent protest. The heart of the ‘take a knee’ movement concerns the dissatisfaction many have with America’s treatment of minorities, specifically African Americans. In the wake of many high profile police shootings, professional football players, beginning with Colin Kaepernick, decided to utilize their status as celebrities and the national platform that accompanies being an NFL player in order to voice their dismay. While the most iconic of these protests has been taking a knee during the national anthem, players have additionally linked arms or even not come out onto the field until after the anthem had finished.

In a time of heightened political tensions, President Donald Trump has appeared to paint a target on the back of NFL players. It all began at a rally in Huntsville, Alabama, when Trump made the bombastic assertion (to an overwhelmingly white, Republican audience) that “NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, [should] say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired.” This rhetoric was continued in the form of a series of brash tweets further attacking the NFL, as well as encouraging football fans to boo and object to players that decide to take a knee (or otherwise ‘disrespect’ the American flag) during the anthem. Despite Trump’s apparent goal to silence the protests of NFL players, his comments provided NFL players a kairotic opportunity and an even bigger platform to make their objections heard. After Trump’s barrage of criticisms, both the number of protesting NFL athletes as well as the amount of media attention has dramatically increased. Lately, these athletes aren’t just protesting the discriminatory treatment of African Americans, they are protesting a president who is trying to bully them into silence.

Do these athletes carry enough authority on political matters to be protesting on such a national stage? As Americans, it is their constitutional right to voice their opinions, regardless of their audience. With this in mind, it is a matter of opinion as to exactly how credible they are, depending on the specific player in question as well as one’s personal beliefs about the NFL. Similarly to celebrity actors or other famous individuals, many NFL athletes feel like it is their responsibilities to use their status to raise awareness of issues larger than themselves. This selfless ideology itself gives the athletes a sizable amount of validity.

The ‘take a knee’ phenomenon carries a considerable amount of emotional appeal. On account of the movement being based on high profile police shootings (such as Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Freddie Gray), the demonstration has enormous significance. The Black Lives Matter campaign that the NFL players allude to with their actions incites heightened tensions and passionate ideas. NFL athletes aren’t simply taking a knee to protest America’s national anthem, they embody an entire ideology.

Taking a knee during the national anthem imparts a myriad of messages to different audiences. Whether you support the protest or find the NFL players to be disrespectful, it is important to note the significance of the movement in the context of our current political climate, and how something so simple as taking a knee now conveys an incredible amount of meaning.