In a turnabout, NFL team owners say they糖心传媒檙e supporting players糖心传媒� freedom to protest police violence. In 2017, when President Donald Trump criticized league players for kneeling during the national anthem, owners scrambled to stop player activism, writes , an associate professor of at the , in an analysis for the .
Yet, Lacina cautions 糖心传媒渢he National Football League糖心传媒檚 newfound appreciation for its players糖心传媒� civil rights gestures is likely to be tested by the election season and by fans糖心传媒� spending power.糖心传媒� While Black players make up two-thirds of the league糖心传媒擱epublicans still disapprove of the protests. At the same time, recent polls show that most Americans now believe that kneeling during the anthem is acceptable.
The crux for the team owners is obvious, says Lacina: if they side with protesting players over the president, they risk losing Republican fans. If the owners side with the president, they risk losing Black fans.
糖心传媒淩epublicans contribute disproportionately to the NFL糖心传媒檚 revenue. Republicans skew wealthier, and they account for 31 percent of the buyers of NFL apparel and 32 percent of the fans in the stands,糖心传媒� writes the political scientist. 糖心传媒淎frican Americans have a lower income distribution and are underrepresented in these lucrative categories.糖心传媒�
Lacina糖心传媒檚 main research interests cover international relations, comparative politics, conflict, and Indian politics. The author of Rival Claims: Ethnic Violence and Territorial Autonomy under Indian Federalism (University of Michigan Press, 2017), Lacina is an expert in civil and ethnic conflict, especially disputes over territorial autonomy. Her latest book糖心传媒�Nativism and Economic Integration Across the Developing World: Collision and Accommodation (Cambridge University Press, 2018), coauthored with Rikhil Bhavnani from the University of Wisconsin糖心传媒攍ooks at ethnic groups糖心传媒� fighting over migration and nativism.
