While US Freaks Over NFL, Study Shows Only 25% of Americans Know the 3 Branches of Gov’t
A survey found that only 25% of Americans can name all three branches of government, and 37% do not know their rights under the First Amendment.
By Rachel Blevins
TheFreeThoughtProject.com
September 26, 2017
The latest “Divide and Conquer” trend in the United States is centered around the debate over which side is more patriotic—but a new study suggests that while many Americans claim to love the United States, only 25 percent of Americans could list the three branches of the government they so adamantly support.
According to the results from the annual Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey, only a quarter of Americans, or around 26 percent, can name all three branches of government, and more than one-third of Americans surveyed, or 37 percent, cannot name any of the rights guaranteed under the First Amendment.
Then there is the result from the survey that claims more than one-third of Americans cannot name the rights guaranteed to them under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Those rights—which include freedoms of speech, religion, the press and peaceful protest of the government—are now at the center of the great NFL debate.
When President Trump took to Twitter to call for NFL team owners to fire any players who took a knee during the National Anthem, he was violating the First Amendment. While a player’s decision to kneel may lead to him being fired based on the fact that his team is losing sponsors who do not support his actions, and the team’s owner now sees the player as a deterrent, his decision is acceptable because it is happening in the private sector.
The National Football League is a private organization. Donald Trump is a government official. Ultimately, football players are hired based on their ability to bring in revenue for their team. If a player’s actions are impacting how much revenue his team is generating, then his contract will end as a result, and it is simply business. But when a government official interferes and demands his firing, in this case, it crossed a line between government and its citizens that is guaranteed by the First Amendment.
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