During the Super Bowl, at half time while Demi Lovato sang the national anthem Beyonce and Jay Z sat down. Due to their loyalty to Colin Kaepernick, who began the practice of kneeling people automatically took it as a political protest.

Both are big supporters of ex 49ers player Colin Kaepernick, who began the practice of kneeling during the pre-game national anthem to protest violence against blacks by police officers. Kaepernick, a free agent, has not been signed by an NFL team since he began kneeling for the national anthem during the 2016 regular season in a protest against police brutality and social injustice. Some may say this is their reason for them sitting during the national anthem but it really wasn’t.

In reality, they got there and Yolanda Adams was about to perform “America the Beautiful” and, as co-producer of the halftime show, he immediately jumped into “artist mode”, making last-minute sound adjustments and commenting on the performance to his wife. After Demi comes out they talk about how beautiful she was and how Beyonce knew the nervous feeling to perform the national anthem at a Super Bowl and how proud they were of her. They stated that they knew it seemed to be a political protest and explained that, that wasn’t the case at all and they wouldn’t put their daughter in that position.

I asked Arianna Williams, senior in high school, how she felt about the situation and she stated: “I think it’s their right to sit, it could’ve been a protest because its a free country and they know that so they stayed seated.” In her opinion, they were sitting down for a protest like others thought.

I also asked DeMarie Perry, a senior in high school, how she felt about the situation and she stated: “I don’t think it was for a protest, they probably didn’t feel obligated to stand like most people but it also could have been deeper than what I think. I feel like it is normal, I don’t really think people should have to stand if they don’t want to.” In her opinion, she feels as if people are not obligated to do so but still that wasn’t the case for them.