Colin Kaepernick: Racial Injustices In America

Athletes all over the U.S have made their decision and have taken a stance on what they believe is right. Colin Kaepernick, a football player who used to play for the San Francisco Forty-Niners back in 2016, has made headlines for kneeling during the national anthem. For him, kneeling during the anthem was a gesture of protesting police brutality and social injustice. Although many people claimed that Kaepernick was being anti-american, he was just practicing his first amendment rights. The New York Times has quoted Kaepernick during a post-game conference where he said,- “Once again, I’m not

Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers quarterback, started much controversy against America when he remained seated for the national anthem during a preseason game against the San Diego Chargers. Kaepernick seems to had developed an enmity against America. He feels that he and fellow African American athletes should not show patriotism to their country because of the unfair treatment their ancestors went through throughout history. Although Kaepernick does have a point about the racial discrimination colored people went through throughout American history, he still has no right to disrespect his country. Kaepernick himself is not black, he is white, but he is just drawing attention to himself.

Colin Kaepernick is an American citizen who plays football for the National Football League, who currently plays for the 49ers. Kaepernick was first ever noticed sitting down during the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In the United States, it is typical to be standing, with your hand over your chest, while the national anthem is playing. Typically, the men remove their caps, and the ladies just stand up doing the same. After the game, he was

The San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback, Colin Kaepernick has been at the center of attention for quite a while now. He is now known for his infamous kneeling or sitting during the National Anthem. He has received both positive and negative feedback regarding his actions. Some may view his actions as right and justifiable, but his actions show nothing but disrespect and a lack of patriotism.

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.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick caught the nation’s attention when he remained seated during the national anthem. National Football League (NFL) reporter Steve Wyche covered this event in an article he wrote for the NFL website. Wyche interviewed Kaepernick after the game where the quarterback explained why he decided to sit during the national anthem. Kaepernick explains: “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color” (Wyche). Kaepernick’s frustration is due to the recent string of police shootings, which have claimed the lives of many young black men across the country.

When the national anthem roars throughout a football stadium fans and players traditionally stand. They place their hands over their hearts as the music blares from beginning to end. However, on August 26th, 2016 during a preseason game versus the Green Bay Packers. Colin Kaepernick, a quarterback for the San Francisco 49er’s decided to do otherwise and chose to kneel during the national anthem. Immediately following after the game, reporters swarmed him, seeking an explanation for his actions. Kaepernick answered their questions for about seventeen minutes, telling NFL Media in an exclusive interview after the game:

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.

As a rising star for the 49ers, Colin Kaepernick led the 49ers to the Super Bowl in the 2012-2013 season. His stardom began to peak there and he began to decline. At the start of the 2016-2017 season, two African Americans were killed in traffic stops and they were not a threat to the police. Kaepernick, a fellow African American, knew that blacks were being treated unequally by law enforcement and they were not being punished for their actions. During the first two preseason game, he sat during the national anthem but he didn't have a uniform because he was injured. It was until the third game were a photographer captured a picture of Kaepernick sitting during the national anthem. After the game, Kaepernick stated “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color”. (Branch) His actions did not create attention but it was the beginning steps of his silent protest. In the 4th preseason game, he took a knee with fellow player Eric Reid. Many players from around the league began to follow. This began sparking the protest that left a big impact in sports history.

A famous sports figure in history once said, “I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag. I know that I am a black man in a white world” (McKirdy). At first glance, this quote seems to be something that would have been said by the San Francisco 49ers Quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, in light of his recent protests, as well as other sports players who decided to follow suit, to the playing of the national anthem before football games. However, this is not the case. The above quote was written in the 1972 autobiography, I Never Had it Made, written by legendary African American Major League Baseball player, Jackie Robinson (McKirdy). Colin Kaepernick obviously felt the same as Jackie Robinson did when he sat on the bench rather than standing during a rendition of the national anthem before a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers on August 26. During an interview with the media following the game, Kaepernick explained why he refused to stand for the anthem, “‘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’” (Wyche). Kaepernick explains that he refused to stand for the national anthem because of the treatment of minorities in recent events in the US (Wyche). This is his main reason for the protests,

A football player with the NFL, named Colin Kaepernick decided to stop standing for the national anthem as of means of protesting that the fact unarmed African Americans are killed by police in disproportionate number, usually without any repercussions for the officers who engaged in the killings. The fact that Colin Kaepernick protest is being a sign of disrespect, even though kneeling has long been considered a sign of respect, it has much more to do what he is protesting than how he is protesting.

Refusing to stand for the national anthem is disrespecting the flag and every member of the armed forces. Celebrities and others have all chimed in and gave their opinion on Colin’s protest. One person to chime in and has a lot patriotism in her family history is Carole Ishlam, she is one of the great-great-great-granddaughters of Francis Scott Key, the writer of the national anthem. "It just blows my mind that somebody like Kaepernick would do what he does to dishonor the flag of this country and the national anthem” Ishlam said in an interview. She continued, “we have young men and women overseas fighting for this country, people that have died for this country” (ProCon.org) Even supporters of Kaepernick’s message disagree with his actions. One of these supporters is New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who said, “It 's an oxymoron that you 're sitting down, disrespecting that flag that has given you the freedom to speak out” (ProCon.org) Not only did celebrities talk about it, people who are fighting in the war and are representing the flag have put out their own opinions on Kaepernick’s

When Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the “Star Spangled Banner” a mass dispute over race, patriotism and football broke out across the United States. Many people who were opposed to Kaepernick's protest believed he was disrespecting our military by not standing with his hand over his

According to NFL Media after a game Kaepernick is kneeling because he won’t show pride in the American flag because it oppresses black people and people of color. This is what he believes in and he has every right to express his beliefs but there is

Colin Kaepernick has the right to not stand for the anthem. Kaepernick had the audacity to not stand for the anthem! He has the right to not stand for the national anthem. Even though he has the right to sit for the anthem, because of free speech given to him in the constitution. Also, the National Football League (NFL) has no rule preventing the players from sitting for the national anthem. Even though, he has the right, to do what he did, it was tremendously disrespectful to the military and other people