Why did #TakeAKnee trend on Twitter?

Let’s look at the hashtag #TakeAKnee, and how it got it start on Twitter.

In August 2016, Colin Kaepernick sat out the national anthem at a preseason NFL game. He was protesting the systemic oppression against people of color, police brutality, and the collision with the U.S. criminal justice system. Kaepernick explained:

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

Kaepernick was referring to a series of deaths of unarmed black people at the hands of law enforcement officers, including the shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. On Kaepernick’s fourth silent protest he was joined by his teammate Eric Reid. In an interview with The New York Times Reid said he: “felt furious, hurt and hopeless….We chose to kneel because it’s a respectful gesture. I remember thinking our posture was like a flag flown at half-mast to mark a tragedy.”

Athletes from various sports began following their lead to show support. But in Sept 2017 it blew up.

At a rally in Alabama, President Trump said: “You know what’s hurting the game? When people like yourselves turn on television, and you see those people taking the knee when they are playing our great national anthem.”

Drawing the rhetorical distinction between the “people like yourselves” at the overwhelmingly white rally and “those people” protesting was provocative. Trump advised football fans to boycott the NFL, saying:

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He’s fired. He’s fired!'”

He then threw additional fuel on the fire by tweeting an attack on Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry. This kicked the whole controversy into overdrive.

And famously, this was the weekend when Puerto Rico, still reeling from the impact of Hurricane Maria, rightful was begging for help, and being largely ignored by the President, who seemed to be preoccupied with the anthem kneelers.

Tweets that contain the hashtag #TakeAKnee