The NFL Takes a Knee: Corporate Appropriation of Patriotism, Race, and Activism

• In Event: ICA Interactive Paper/Poster Session II
  In Interactive Poster Session: Popular Communication Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

On Friday, September 22, 2017, President Trump described any National Football League player who protested during the national anthem as a “son of a bitch” deserving to be fired. In response, during the following NFL games’ performance of the national anthem, entire teams linked arms, knelt, or stayed in the locker room. This paper will use these events to explore the nature of the NFL’s brand and its ability to appropriate notions of patriotism, race, and activism. As a part of the military-industrial-media-entertainment network, the NFL has branded itself as simultaneously being an apolitical space and being politically unified in favor of American militarism. The commitment to these values is strong enough to hijack activist pregame actions associated with raising awareness of racist policing and social injustice, and turn them into messages consistent with the league’s brand.

Author

• Jason Kido Lopez, University of Wisconsin-Madison