I’m not writing this article to defend Colin Kaepernick, nor am I writing this article to criticize him for doing what he did. There are more than enough of those articles like that on the Internet right now.
Kaepernick decided to sit for the National Anthem at his first game of the 2016 NFL season. I don’t disagree with Kaepernick’s decision to sit on the sideline during the National Anthem. The beauty of the United States of America is that we have men and women overseas fighting for his right to sit down, just the same as they are fighting for the right for people to stand during the anthem if they so choose. I respect Kaepernick for being bold and making a statement concerning an issue that he felt needed to be brought into greater light. He chose to speak for those without a voice, and whether or not you agree with his stance on the issue itself, what he did takes courage.
But here’s the thing: America is not perfect, and we can’t expect it to be. There always have been and always will be injustices happening every single day in this country. These injustices don’t just discriminate against people of different races. They discriminate against different sexes, social classes, and everything in-between. Injustices aren’t limited to a certain group of people—there are hundreds of issues that need to be brought to light that are currently on the back burner.
Hear me when I say that if Colin Kaepernick feels compelled to sit for the black community and raise awareness about that specific injustice seen across the country today, then there must be people all over the United States that feel they should sit for others suffering injustice. For the women being trafficked for sex, for the people who are poor, and for the police being shot on the streets, and for the innocent lives being taken on the streets. The list goes on and on because we live in a broken, divided nation.
If we all chose to not stand and support a flag that represents "the oppression" of these people, then we would never stand for the National Anthem ever again.
But our flag doesn’t stand for oppression. Our flag stands for freedom, and it always will. Injustice happens. Injustice is real. Injustice is arguably the worst part about who we are as a nation. But injustice doesn't change what our flag stands for. We are, “One nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all," and if we want that value to remain true, we have to cling to it with everything we have.
So Colin, I will stand with you and beside you while you sit for the National Anthem. I will proudly sing the words upon which this country was founded, and I will not disrespect you for choosing to exercise your right to freedom of expression, just as I expect you to not disrespect me for exercising mine.
But if we all sit to make a stand, then nobody will actually be standing.
