Let's talk about in August 2016, when the 49ers quarterback willingly refused to stand for the playing of the national anthem. Colin Kaepernick was protesting the wrongdoings against African Americans and minorities in the United States. Kaepernick states, "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder".
I fully support how Colin Kaepernick feels and I agree with the reasons behind his protest. I may not agree completely with his form of protest but all he was trying to do was bring to people's attention a political issue that he genuinely believes in.
The only reason that this brought real controversy among millions of people was because people know that there is a problem in our country but they just do not want to address it, they are scared of it. Instead of being mature about the protest and trying to better understand Kaepernick's view and where he is coming from on the situation, they get upset and create hate towards him.
This is not what Kaepernick was trying to do. He was not trying to be disrespectful to our country or those that serve it. He was trying to bring awareness that there are certain things in our country that need to be changed. Coming from a biracial upbringing, adopted, and then raised by white parents and white siblings, he decided to be more active and involved in the rights for black people. This was in no way meant to show disrespect to white people or to those men and women who graciously serve our country in the armed services. He stated that after months of witnessing some of the civil unrest in the United States, he wanted to make a stand for civil rights. Would this have been as big of a controversy if a white football player was the one that made this stand instead of Kaepernick? I honestly do not think so. I do not think that people would have gotten so upset about this whole thing and thought it was as disrespectful if a white player had been the one to do it. This is the problem in our country. There is racism and people refuse to acknowledge it.
What happens to Kaepernick now? Well executives state that because of his actions to take a stand they believe he will be released from the 49ers and he will never play in the NFL again. Are you kidding me? Just because he had a political view and he is in a more public position, being the quarterback for the 49ers, he should lose his job for this? What about all the negative tweets, posts, and videos that show such hate and disrespect for him? Doesn't this just prove Kaepernick's point? That there is a big problem with racism in our country. If there wasn't a problem, people would not react this way. It would not have caused the controversy that it did. People get too comfortable with the way things are. It is too much work or effort to change the way things have been for years. Those that are comfortable with oppression seem to be the ones that are the first to criticize others that are willing to speak out against it.
Let us all think about this:
Race and ethnicity are present in sports. Whether we want them to be or not. It is a fact. Where there is diversity there will be problems that arise and different opinions to be heard. This country is full of different political views that are shared by different types of people. It shouldn't matter who you are, we should all be allowed to express our 1st amendment: the freedom of speech. Whether that be in the environment of sports or in a political debate. We should all respect each other and the views each one of us share.
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