A couple weeks ago, Colin Kaepernick decided to protest racial inequality in the United States by sitting during the national anthem. Then the internet lit up in a furious rage over how “disrespectful” his actions were.
His reason for sitting was extremely valid, though. I’m sure Kaepernick loves this country. But he is aware that this country is not as good to some people as it is to others. We have institutions that preserve racial inequality and politicians on both sides who aren’t in any hurry to find solutions to the problem. Many deny the problems even exist.The number of unarmed, black citizens who have been shot by the police for nonviolent offenses and the number of people who shrug those statistics off like they aren't important is a blaring sign that we still have work to do.That is the real demonstration of a lack of patriotism.
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So in light of this scenario, I decided to create a working list of things that actually are truly unpatriotic.
Here:
- Refusing to pass legislation designed to prevent gun violence after a class of first graders is massacred by a military-grade weapon
- Knowingly providing water that is contaminated with lead to an entire city of people, who are predominantly black and lower income, as in Flint, MI, causing widespread health issues and water scarcity
- Supporting activities, such as the implementation of oil pipelines, that cut through and damage pristine and vulnerable American ecosystems
- Demanding that the current president of the United States shows a birth certificate to prove he was actually born in the United States
- Sending thousands of young soldiers into a war that did not need to be started and then not providing adequate mental health care for them once they’ve returned
- Closing down the government because you refuse to pass a budget that funds the Affordable Care Act, which would provide health insurance to millions of Americans
- Cutting funding for higher public education (so that Americans cannot afford tuition) in order to make a profit off the backs of students through the issuance of federal student loans, purposefully and knowingly causing young Americans to start their adult lives thousands of dollars in debt
Flags, symbols and songs are fun, but they are not America. The people who live here and the land we live on is the real America. Showing concern for those two things is where real patriotism lies.
I suppose we’re all a little unpatriotic in our own ways. If everyone could be "unpatriotic" in a way as benign as Colin Kaepernick, we would all be much happier citizens.
