San Francisco 49ers QB, Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem during a pre-season game and stirred up a controversy. According tot he QB he stats:
“I won’t stand for a national anthem in a country that oppresses black people.”
However, he’s stirred up something that perhaps he now wished he had not. His initial beef is that the US oppresses black people.
The same country which:
- Had a black woman as Sectretary of State
- Elected a black man as President of the USA
- Had a black Attorney General
The list can go one, but it brings up another question for people like Kaepernick.
How much is enough? How much do people have to show to not be labeled as racist? How much is enough before we look past a person’s skin color when people like Kaepernick and groups like BLM want to focus on skin color so much.
But even more, Kaepernick’s disrespect goes beyond a person’s skin color. His act shows a ignorance of everything the US has stood for.
- Standing up and ending slavery
- Patrolling the African coast to prevent slave ships from leaving Africa with slaves
- The country which allows all religions
- The country which allows a person to publicly voice ones disapproval of not only society, but the government itself
- Every soldier who died for the country
- The US Constitution, a unique document allowing for so much freedom
And so much more, but its also a disrespect of not only white people, but blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and every other race which helped build this country.
While he has that right to do what he did, he should also know it will not go over with many people and not for the reasons he thinks. There are many ways to disrespect someone and Kaepernick only showed his intolerance of other opinions of what not only the flag means, but also the national anthem.
So while he sits, other great athletes like Usain Bolt show respect to other country’s anthems because he knows such things are much more meaningful than one issue.