Analyzing Colin Kaepernick's 'Song Of The Bride'

Kneeling during the national anthem is not just wrong it is also disrespectful to the multitudes in our country who have served or or presently serving this great nation-- the United States of America. The national anthem represents many things. One of them is the fortitude of our country’s flag. In the anthem it declares that the United States of America is “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” The flag represents the very core and essence of our nation as the only land on the continent that offers its citizens the freedoms it has at the price paid for ultimately by the brave. It is in no way oppressive nor racist. It is the theme song for every American. The intended audience of this paper is an appeal to all Americans. The quarterback of the 49ers football team, Colin Kaepernick, first began a protest to draw attention to a series of incidents against African Americans by remaining seated during the national anthem, “the Star Spangled Banner.” After the great stir Kaepernick caused in the media during September 2016, Kaepernick switched up his protest by taking a knee as a nod or gesture of showing more respect to current and former military after receiving an in-depth letter from Nate Boyer a former NFL player and US military veteran. Boyer served our country as a Green Beret. Over a decade ago, Boyer witnessed genocide while working in Sudan. He met numerous African men who were smitten with America and longed to have the

Colin Kaepernick, a San Francisco 49er quarterback but also a daring black man that has decided to speak for the voices that can’t, has made his voice heard by kneeling during America’s beloved ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’. Jaweed Kaleem writes in the article “In the ‘land of the free,’ are you free to sit out the national anthem?” about the controversial topic in which he showcases the two sides of how it deems to be disrespectful to sit out the national anthem vs how Kaepernick has the freedom of expression to sit out what he believes does not benefit him.

In 2016, Colin Kaepernick, a 49ers quarterback, took a knee during the anthem. He did this to bring attention that there is an oppression of “black people and people of color.” He also adds that once “there’s significant change, and I feel that flag represent what it’s supposed to represent,” then he will stand. All of the players up to now wanted to bring attention to unjustified police shootings that ended up killing people because of their race. Kaepernick caused many people who were passive and didn’t know how to deal with this topic to take a knee during the anthem. He along with many people began to spread awareness that America has a racism problem that should’ve ended decades ago, but is only getting worse.

It has been a custom of all citizens, including professional athletes, to stand and remove their hats during the National Anthem since 1931. Although as of late, in an obscure manner of protest, many athletes and now fans have been kneeling during the National Anthem. Perhaps no group has more influence of the general public than professional athletes, which has been clearly documented as of late. All of this protest began when Colin Kaepernick, a back-up quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, kneeled during the National Anthem in the 49er’s first preseason game. Although this form of protest is very peaceful, many people believe it is disrespectful and have begun to question Kaepernick’s patriotism. Kneeling during the National Anthem creates a lot of tension between citizens, especially when it is used to protest a highly controversial topic to begin with.

Day after day, the nation watching, seeing blacks being shot for as little as putting there hands up, nobody decided to take action. And 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to take action.

Everybody loves watching football right. The sound of the pads hitting, the crowd cheering, but this isn’t about the football game, it is about the song before the game that is the hot topic right now. During a 49ers football game, Colin Kaepernick sat down during the National Anthem and that got everybody stirred up. People fired against him on Social Media telling him to leave the country and how he hate the country, but that's not the reason why Colin sat out. He sat out because of a shooting of a black person that should have never been shot. After Colin sat out of the National Anthem, other National Football League (NFL) teams started doing it. Players would wait in the locker room or in the tunnel until the song was over. People should not have stand for the National Anthem during sporting events.

“For the land of the free, and the home of the brave” the remarkable final words of our nation’s anthem. There has been recent controversy about football players, and many other athletes kneeling during the “Star Spangled Banner” to protest against the tragedies happening in America day after day. The First Amendment gives these athletes the privilege to express those rights by kneeling. People should stand for the national anthem because it is a sign of respect and appreciation for our country. On August 14th, San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick made the choice to kneel during the national anthem. His decision to kneel was because he could not stand in front of a flag that oppresses black people in its nation. Kaepernick’s kneel turned into a nationwide protest for people of color being mistreated in the United States. Did Kaepernick know what the flag actually represented before he took his costly action?

It was once said by Ronald Reagan that, “When we honor our flag we honor what we stand for as a nation- freedom,equality, justice and hope”. In the article “In the land of the free,’ are you free to sit out of the national anthem?” by Jaweed Kaleem. It all started to get attention at Quarterback from the NFL Football player to remain seated while the “Star-Spangled Banner”. The rest of his teammates stood and had one hand over their hearts during the “Star-Spangled Banner”. When people saw an NFL Player do it; some people follow his lead. While The quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeled when the song came on with one of his teammates. Also, the Cornerback stay seated during that song during that game. Some people have their beliefs on the flag,

Colin Kaepernick exercised his first amendment rights by peacefully kneeling in protest for the mistreatment of colored people in this country. His main goal was to make people realize what is happening in this country. With the recent innocent killings of unarmed black men such as, Alton Sterling, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray and many others. The American flag is supposed to represent liberty, freedom, and justice for all but, these things are not happening for all right now in this country. The selfless act that Kaep is taking is way bigger then him, he is speaking for people who don’t have a voice or the platform to start a conversation.

About 13 months ago a pro NFL football player named Colin kaepernick sat down on the bench during the national anthem of a football game. Recently, more and more football players and coaches have been kneeling during the national anthem.

All eyes during the National Anthem are on the San Francisco 49ers quarterback and other NFL players who have joined him in sitting or kneeling during the anthem. Beginning August 14th, 2016 Kaepernick began sitting during the national anthem this preseason. A silent protest to show support for people of color, and to take a stand against police brutality. Many do not agree with his actions and believe what he did wasn’t simply unpatriotic,

It all began at the pre-season game: San Francisco 49ers versus the Green Bay Packers. The national anthem began playing and Colin Kaepernick remained seated on the bench. Kaepernick’s protest did not go unnoticed. News stations all over the country picked up on his protest and a spotlight fixated on the NFL quarterback; they interviewed the coaches following the game and Mark Sandritter, a writer for the SB Nation, wrote that the coaches confirmed that he did indeed sit for the national anthem.

William Faulkner once said, “Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth.” Individuals must stand up for what they believe in order to cause a change. For instance, Colin Kaepernick thinks the United States is against people of color so he decided to kneel during the national anthem. He raised his

The United States Flag is a symbol of all the soldiers that have and are currently fighting for our country. So, when Colin Kaepernick didn’t stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner”, it caused a huge uprising throughout the world. In the article “In the ‘land of the free,’ are you free to sit out the national anthem?” from the Los Angeles Times, it says that the reason Colin chose not to stand was because of the division of the country. “The country is divided between Black Lives Matter- a movement who activism over police shootings of black men Kaepernick tweets about to his 900,000 followers - and Blue Lives Matter” (Kaleem). I believe that the what people are saying about Kaepernick being disrespectful to the fighting men and our country is

The impact that Kaep's protest has accumulated over the past year has received both negative and positive feedback. He's not just all talk, Kaep created his own organization called "The Colin Kaepernick Foundation" their mission is to, " fight oppression of all kinds, globally, through education and activism"(Kaepernick). There is also the "Know You Rights Camp" is a free campaign for youth completely funded by Colin to "raise awareness on high education, self-empowerment, and instruction to properly interact with law enforcement in various scenarios"(Kaepernick). Almost a year ago, Kaep pledged to donate $1 million to organizations working in oppressed communities such as 100 suits for 100 Men, J.Cole's Dreamville Foundation and Lower Eastside