English, Class 9, Text 4: Say it with SPORT (p. 39-40)

Football Player Stands Up by Sitting Down
Colin Kaepernick is an American football player . In 2016 , he had a problem . Several African - American men ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ by police . Kaepernick wanted to protest ____________________ ____________________ African Americans , but he didn ? t know how . Then , after a lot of thought , he ____________________ a ____________________ . Before a game in August , Kaepernick chose to sit during the ____________________ ____________________ .

Kaepernick ? s decision was ____________________ . Many people thought that it was a mistake . He was called ? un - American . ? People sent him hate mail ? even ____________________ ____________________ . But many other people thought that he did a good thing . And his ____________________ began to ____________________ .

Soon other American football players began to sit or kneel ____________________ the national anthem . ____________________ from other sports like ____________________ and swimming did the same thing . During the next few months , students from more than one hundred ____________________ and high schools ____________________ the country protested before their games as well . Kaepernick ? s one simple act had started a national ____________________ about ____________________ in America .

Fists of Fury
Perhaps the most ____________________ sports protest of all time took place at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City . In the men ? s 200 - meter race , the gold medal ____________________ ____________________ by Tommie Smith and the bronze medal was won by John Carlos , both Americans . When they got their medals , both men ____________________ black ____________________ but no shoes . They then ____________________ their fists in the air to protest discrimination ____________________ African Americans . The photograph that ____________________ ____________________ of them is one of the most famous pictures in the history of sport .

NBA Says ? No Way ! ?
Basketball is a sport that ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ player protests . In 1996 , NBA ( National Basketball Association ) player Mahmoud Abdul - Rauf ____________________ to stand for the national anthem . He believed that the American ____________________ was a ____________________ of racism and ____________________ . In 2010 , NBA team the Phoenix Suns wore shirts that said ? Los Suns ? ( ? The Suns ? ) . They did this to protest new ____________________ in Arizona that they thought were racist against Hispanics . In 2014 , players from several NBA teams wore shirts that said ? I Can ? t ____________________ ? . These were the last words of Eric Garner . Garner was an African - American man who died after police ____________________ him in New York .

Dani Alves Goes Bananas
During a soccer match in April 2014 , a banana ____________________ ____________________ at Barcelona player Dani Alves . His ____________________ to this racist act was to ____________________ ____________________ the banana and eat it . His ____________________ Neymar later ____________________ a photo of himself eating a banana . Many other players around the world then posted photos of themselves with bananas too , to ____________________ Alves and to protest racism .

Is There a Place for Social Protests in Sport ?
A lot ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ about Colin Kaepernick and sports protests . ____________________ , not all sportspeople believe that protests in sports are a good idea . Many athletes are unhappy with Kaepernick and others like him who protest at sports ____________________ . They believe that sports ____________________ are not good places to talk about ____________________ ____________________ . But as long as there are issues to talk about , athletes will ____________________ the power of sports to speak to the world . And when sportspeople protest , we ____________________ ____________________ the chance to learn about important issues , and people ____________________ ____________________ . People that we ____________________ even be able to help .