Introduction
The article under analysis is entitled “Why Colin Kaepernick and I Decided to Take a Knee” and is written by Eric Reid in September 2017. In general, the article is dedicated to the problem of racism and injustice. Recent events involving black Americans being killed by police officers were the reason why the author decided to join the social justice movement and eventually write this article. In his article, he explains that during the national anthem after one of the games, he decided to bend the knee together with another football quarterback Colin Kaepernick because he knew it was the right action (Reid).
He states that before that event, he and Kaepernick spoke the entire evening about social injustice and the problems of discrimination and racism and agreed on what actions would draw the public’s and the government’s attention to these issues. Reid also says that by this action he risked his career, but he states that being a public figure, it is his duty to speak for those Black and Brown Americans who do not have such an opportunity (Reid).
Generally, I do not agree with the author though he makes some right points. In particular, I agree with his determination to change the situation and to eradicate racism, however, I partially agree with his opinion about faith and making what he thinks is right, and, finally, I do not agree with his actions and his perception of the situation happened with Black people being killed by police officers.
Critique
In terms of the first argument, namely, his intentions to fight racism, I think that it is a right thing to do, as racism has already brought many problems to humanity in general and Black people and other minority groups in particular. Although the contemporary situation is far better than it was a couple of centuries ago, it still has much room for improvement. Indeed, despite many citizens in America of different races including White people advocating for the complete eradication of racism, it is still in effect and more measures must be taken to eliminate it.
As for the second argument, I think that faith is a feeling about which people must be cautious because it can lead to delusion and wrong actions. A vivid example of this is numerous bloody battles that resulted in a great number of human casualties and that were fought in the name of faith. In this respect, the author may think that his actions are right, but people are not perfect in general, therefore, it is sometimes important to look at things from a different perspective and take into account the possibility of being wrong.
Regarding the third argument, first of all, I think that the author exaggerated the events occurred in 2016. It is quite possible that these murders were committed for racial purposes, but these cases are rare and they involve those people who do not have any relationship with the government and act according to their own principles. In addition, I do not agree with the authors actions that he chose as a protest, primarily because they are ineffective. Indeed, by these actions, the author only placed his career under the threat, and no actions for his cause were carried out.
Conclusion
Overall, I do not share the opinion with the author. However, he definitely made certain points on which I cannot but agree. The most important of them is his determination to eliminate racism. However, in terms of his faith, his perception of the events involving killing Black Americans by police officers, and the actions that he decided to take, I only partially agree.
Works Cited
Reid, Eric. “Eric Reid: Why Colin Kaepernick and I Decided to Take a Knee.” New York Times. 2017. Web.