Pro Football and the Proliferation of Protest: Anthem Kneeling and Standing in a Divided America examines the take-a-knee NFL protests, a trend that has led to deep political divisiveness in America. The author explores this phenomenon by incorporating analysis of media coverage, impact on attitudes and behaviors, and racial, religious, gendered, and political perspectives. The analysis allows readers to recognize both positive and negative prejudice and to proscribe possible solutions for political divisiveness. Protesting, anthems, ceremonies, and media coverage all demonstrate that this issue is a communication issue. This book examines the voices on both sides of the kneeling controversy in order to uncover the points at which one side is communicating and the other side refuses to listen. The studies in this volume look at the protest through four lenses: historically, through media coverage , through impact on public behaviors and attitudes, and from racial, religious, gendered, and political identification perspectives. The contributors worked in conjunction with one another, incorporating different viewpoints into each chapter as they were completed. All studies were conducted under the guidance of the book's editor to separate the work effectively and to end in a set of voices that complement each other and allow for overall conclusions and recommendations. This book is useful for a wide range of scholars including race, religion, political studies, gender studies, and communication studies.
Stephen Perry is director of graduate programs in communication and the interim dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University.
Chapter 1 - Division and Hermeneutical Ignorance in America: Reasons to Examine the Anthem Kneeling Controversy Stephen Perry Chapter 2 - The More Things Change . . . A History of National Anthem Protests Varaidzo Nyamandi & Andrew Bolin Chapter 3 - Government v. Protesters: An Historical Look at How the Media Chooses a Winner Haley Higgs and Dara Phillips Chapter 4 - America's Greatness Compromised: The "Star-Spangled Banner" as a Symbol of Nationalism, Identity, and Division Pauline A. Andrea and Elizabeth Sheffield Hayes Chapter 5 - Influencing America: Sports and Conservative Radio Kelvin King & Eric Frederick Chapter 6 - Kaepernick Portrayals: A Content Analysis of Six Media Outlets Kimberly Feld, Debra Sacra, and Steve A. Butler Chapter 7 - How Social Media Activists and Their Hashtags Have Encouraged and Informed Their Followers on the Take-a-Knee Movement Nadine Barnett Cosby Chapter 8 - The Memes of Take-a-Knee: A Case Study of Power Structures in Social Media Use Brooke S. Dunbar Chapter 9 - NFL National Anthem Protests: A Cluster Analysis of President Trump's Tweets Kalah Kemp Chapter 10 - Celebrity Response to Take-a-Knee, Kaepernick and NFL Protests Candace Moore Chapter 11 - The Role of Race in Perceptions of and Response to the Protests Nadine Barnett Cosby Chapter 12 - Rights and Respect: How Politicians and Their Followers View Anthem Protests Michael Rhett & Joshua Weiss Chapter 13 - Together We Tweet: A Cloud Protest Exploratory Study Examining the Evolution of #TakeAKnee Jana Duckett and Deborah Sacra Chapter 14 - A Great American Race: Visual Rhetoric in NASCAR's National Anthem Ceremonies Christina L. Bullock Chapter 15: Articulating Christianity and Patriotism: Identifying a Hermeneutical Impasse through Emerging Meanings Brian Mattson & Andrew Phillips Chapter 16 - Pigskins and Protests: An Examination of the NFL Boycotts in Response to the Take-a-Knee Movement Megan Westhoff and Jennifer Saint Louis Chapter 17 - Female Athletes in Media: Participating in the Take-a-Knee Movement-Women Athletes in Sports Coverage Colleen Kappeler and Nancy Flory Chapter 18 - Sitting to Take a Stand: Take-a-Knee and Student Protesting Michelle Tabbanor Chapter 19 - Solutions to the Fallout: Invitational Rhetoric and Differing Viewpoint Political Conversations Katie Clarke and Chris Connelly Chapter 20 - Reflections in Overtime Stephen D. Perry & Shreya Shukla
This book provides detailed, multidimensional analysis of the anthem protests and their implications, providing theoretical and historical context that helps relate the anthem protests to larger issues confronting public discourse. But the most important contribution of the book is how it serves as an example of the utility of a multimethod approach, applying more than a dozen methodologies to a single phenomenon and creating a level of understanding that goes far beyond simpler approaches. -- August Grant, University of South Carolina Pro Football and the Proliferation of Protest: Anthem Posture in a Divided America is a very important publication for our times. This book reveals that anthem protesting is a multi-dimensional movement with a historic dimension, not just a monolithic idea attached to a "hashtag." It is enlightening, thought-provoking and a very good read. I highly recommend it as both a recreational reading choice as well as a very useful textbook for social media, interpersonal communication and journalism courses. -- Arthur L. Terry, Bethel University
