BLACK LIVES MATTER AT NORBA SCHOOL

2016. COLIN KAEPERNICK. TAKING THE KNEE AGAINST RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

  

The American football player Colin Kaepernick ignited controversy in 2016 while playing as quarterback for his team the San Francisco 49ers. He refused to stand for the national anthem as a protest against racial injustice and social issues. Instead he knelt down on one knee. This started a trend of other players "taking the knee" in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Kaepernick's actions caused heated/controversial debate. In September 2017, President Donald Trump tweeted that NFL players should be either fired or suspended if they failed to stand up for the national anthem.

Nike will use a close-up image of Kaepernick's face with the caption: "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything." Nike supplies the uniforms for all the NFL's 32 teams and is a corporate sponsor of the NFL. The company knows it will receive a backlash for using Mr Kaepernick in its ads. However, it said: "We believe Colin is one of the most inspirational athletes of this generation, who has leveraged the power of sport to help move the world forward."

Yahoo Sports said: It's an interesting   controversial decision for Nike. No other athlete produces the same emotional response as Kaepernick." Many on social media applauded Nike for its decision. One person tweeted: "Time to throw away all my Nike crap."

ACTIVITY

 

 

MEXICO OLYMPIC GAMES 1968

Read the text and find synonyms for these words and expressions:

point of view       

becoming popular, growing

was quiet         

scornful expressions          

negative response    

group         

put down

in the long run

It’s an iconic image: Two athletes raise their fists on the Olympic podium. The photograph, taken after the 200 meter race at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, turned African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos a symbol of black power and the human rights movement at large.

But look in the photo and you’ll see another man as well: silver medalist Peter Norman, a white Australian runner. Norman didn’t raise his fist that day, but he stood with Smith and Carlos wearing a badge for the Olympic Project for Human Rights. Norman didn’t raise his fist, but by wearing the badge he made his stance clear.

It was only months after the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and protests against the Vietnam War were gaining steam as well. The Olympic Project for Human Rights, a group that reflected their black pride and social consciousness, saw the Olympic Games as an opportunity to agitate for better treatment of black athletes and black people around the world.

As the American athletes raised their fists, the stadium hushed, then burst into racist sneers and angry insults. Smith and Carlos were rushed from the stadium, suspended by the U.S. team, and kicked out of the Olympic Village for turning their medal ceremony into a political statement. They went home to the United States, only to face serious backlash, including death threats.  

However, Carlos and Smith were both gradually re-accepted into the Olympic fold, and went on to careers in professional football before retiring. Norman, meanwhile, was punished severely by the Australian sports establishment. Though he qualified for the Olympic team over and over again, posting the fastest times by far in Australia, he was snubbed by the team in 1972. Rather than allow Norman to compete, the Australians did not send a sprinter at all.

ACTIVITIES 
1.-Change to passive voice:
 “Two athletes raise their fists on the Olympic podium”.

“The Olympic Project for Human Rights, a group that reflected their black pride and social consciousness, saw the Olympic Games as an opportunity to agitate for better treatment of black athletes and black people around the world”.

2.-Change to active voice:
“The photograph was taken after the 200 meter race at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City”.

“Carlos and Smith were both gradually re-accepted into the Olympic fold”.

3.-Change these sentences to present simple affirmative. Then change them to the present perfect interrogative:
-Norman didn’t raise his fist.

-He stood with Smith and Carlos.

-He was wearing a badge for the Olympic Project for Human Rights.

4.-Link these two sentences using a connector:
Carlos and Smith were both gradually re-accepted into the Olympic fold. However, Norman was punished severely by the Australian sports establishment.

5.-Rewrite this sentence using “instead of”
Rather than allow Norman to compete, the Australians did not send a sprinter at all.
Instead of allowing Norman to compete, the Australians did not send a sprinter at all.


6.-Change to the second and third conditional forms:
-If Norman doesn’t wear a badge, he will take part int the 1972 Olympic Games.

-If the American athletes don’t raise their fists, the stadium won’t hush.

7.-Change this sentence into the future continuous negative-interrogative. Then to the future perfect negative.
-Protests against the Vietnam War were gaining steam.

8.-Rewrite this sentence using the past perfect tense:
-The Olympic Games were held only months after the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

VOCABULARY: PROTESTS / RIOTS / DEMONSTRATIONS

Already this year there have been anti-government protests in Tunisia and Egypt, where people have taken to the streets (= to demonstrate along with others) to voice their anger. Turn on the news and you can see people holding up placards (message written on a rectangular piece of cardboard, and attached to a stick) and banners (message written on a long strip of material), on which they have written slogans (short messages). Demonstrations and protests are also noisy: people use microphones or megaphones (a cone-shaped instrument), or they chant their protests all at once.

In many cases, protests are peaceful, but in some occasions, they can turn violent. The police react by trying to contain the demonstrations, but the demonstrators in some cases erect barricades (barriers reinforced by whatever is available), then throw missiles from behind them.

In the UK, police practise the controversial kettling technique, where they pin protesters into a small holding area, not allowing anyone out. Mounted policemen (on horses) might also charge (run towards them) protestors in order to disperse the crowd^.

In other countries, the police or army sometimes use teargas (a spray that makes your eyes water), water cannon (like a powerful hosepipe), or more drastically, impose a curfew (when nobody can be outdoors after a particular time).