Over the past few weeks, the National Anthem has made numerous headlines thanks to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who continuously refuses to stand during its performance. Kaepernick’s reasoning is not that he is anti-american, but that he does not want to “stand up and show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” I full heartedly believe in the amendments, especially the first, but I cannot stand by Kaepernick's decision to sit during the anthem. It is completely disrespectful as an American citizen to sit during the national anthem, the pledge of Allegiance or the presentation of colors. Hundreds of thousands of men and women have fought and died for this country ever since its birth and it is disrespectful to both those who have died and their families.
Though the United States is not perfect, as a citizen it is our duty to be respectful and loyal to our country. Colin has the right to believe whatever he believes, but I firmly believe that if you can’t stand for the playing of our national anthem you should not call yourself an american. In such a politicalized country everyone has their disagreements with what goes on but that doesn’t give them the right to be unpatriotic. I am personally not a fan of Obama’s policies and if Hillary gets in, I will not be a fan of hers either; but I will never, ever sit for the National Anthem or Pledge of Allegiance unless I physically cannot stand.
Though Kaepernick believes black people are SOO oppressed there are many statistics to show otherwise. The obvious one is that a country that is 77.1% white elected a black president not once but twice. Not only that but there is more black on black crime in the US yearly than white on black crime and in 2015, 50 percent of victims killed by the police were white, while only 26 percent were black. Many people will dispute this statistic saying that the racial makeup of the population skews the statistic; but as explained by Heather Mac Donald, a conservative researcher, in a Wall Street Journal, “Such a concentration of criminal violence in minority communities means that officers will be disproportionately confronting armed and often resisting suspects in those communities, raising officers’ own risk of using lethal force.” The problem with current movements like Black Lives Matter is that they are calling for a rise in power for the minority to surpass the majority instead of equality for all.
Instead of sitting for the National Anthem, which will achieve nothing but attention, Kaepernick should instead go out and try to make a difference himself; if you don't like something change it; don't just sit and wait for something to happen. He should try and be a role model for young children both minority and majority by standing up for our country and showing how a REAL man should act. All he is doing is showing young people who look up to him that it's okay to disrespect your home country and those who serve it.
Instead of Kaepernick, this week the media should focus more strongly on the New York Giants who deliberately and purposefully made an effort to stand for the Anthem the day after Kaepernick sat. Both team and staff stood and Victor Cruz, wide receiver for the Giants later commented saying, “I think, personally, the flag is the flag. Regardless of how you feel about the things that are going on in America today and the things that are going on across the world with gun violence and things like that. You’ve got to respect the flag and stand up with your teammates. It’s bigger than just you, in my opinion. I think you go up there. You’re with your team, and you pledge your allegiance to the flag and the national anthem as a team, and then you go about your business, whatever your beliefs are. Colin is his own man. He decided to sit down and sit out and that’s his prerogative. But from a personal standpoint, I think you have to stand out there with your team and understand that this is a game and understand that what’s going on in the country.”
That is what a respectable person sounds like. Not some whiney baby who is looking for attention.
