Who knew the can of worms that could be opened by declining to stand for the National Anthem? Since Colin Kaepernick sat out during the signing of the anthem to bring attention to systemic oppression and police killing of black people in the United States, the Internet has been abuzz with reactions. Not surprisingly, the backlash against Kaepernick was swift, with many on the political right deeming Kaepernick's gesture "disrespectful."

And who was leading the charge? None other than Tomi Lahren, who unleashed a scathing takedown of Kaepernick on the "Final Thoughts" segment of her online series Tomi. I know I shouldn't, but I once again forced myself to sit through her drivel, and I once again came out seething.

Kaepernick explained his reasoning for sitting out the anthem in a lengthy, exclusive interview. Here is an excerpt of Kaepernick's explanation for why he did what he did:

"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."

Lahren devoted much of her segment to accusing Kaepernick of "blaming white people," and she and others also criticized him for "playing the victim" in spite of his hefty salary. Yet Kaepernick made no statements along the lines of facing oppression personally or blaming white people. So already, I've identified two straw man arguments: arguments made against statements Kaepernick never made.

But I want to fixate on one specific aspect of Kaepernick's gesture. If you grew up in the United States, it should be fairly ingrained in you that it is respectful to stand during the National Anthem, ideally with your hand over your heart, to show respect for your country. It is often considered a display of patriotism, to show pride in one's country, to stand and proudly proclaim the lyrics: "O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave."

If your freedoms are generally respected, it might be easy for you to stand and proclaim the United States as "land of the free." You might even take those freedoms for granted.

But if your civil rights are violated on a regular basis, you may have a different perspective of the United States.

What I took from Kaepernick's gesture is, "I cannot stand and imply that I agree with an anthem that calls this nation, 'land of the free,' when people of my complexion are being murdered by the people we are supposed to trust to protect and serve. The people who live in fear of that are not free." I've seen many respond to Kaepernick by telling him to leave if he hates this country so much. First of all, not all who are marginalized in the United States may have the means to just leave if they wanted to. But moreover, I don't think Kaepernick was intending to communicate that he hates America so much as trying to bring attention to human rights violations. To tell him to leave because he did so in a way you didn't like is to chastise him for attempting to bring attention to a legitimate problem.

And that's why I think Americans need to rethink the way we view patriotism. Patriotism isn't just toting the American flag, standing for the National Anthem, or proclaiming America as the "greatest country in the world." It's also emulating the values America claims to stand for in our actions. It means that if we truly believe America to be the "land of the free," we attempt to make it so for all American citizens. When we see the freedoms that our Constitution protects being stripped from citizens, we strive for accountability, and if it's indicative of a deeper problem, reform.

Frankly, considering the nasty backlash, I think Kaepernick's gesture was actually kind of courageous. I don't think I could sit out the anthem and take that kind of heat from people. Colin Kaepernick saw the people standing for the anthem refusing to acknowledge the United States's slaughter of his people while proclaiming the same country as the "land of the free," so he refused to stand with them and say he agreed. And that makes him more patriotic than many of his detractors ever will be.