What is a football season without controversy? Last year during the playoffs, it was the Patriots “Deflategate” scandal, and now we have one that is much more than a ball that has just a little too less air in it. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has made national headlines for his refusal to stand during the National Anthem out of protest over the racial injustices within the country, believing that he cannot honor a flag that represents a country that, in his own words, “oppresses black people and people of color.” Obviously, considering the current climate within the United States, this statement generated more than enough debate and anger-fueled Facebook comments, either from “true, hardworking American patriots” who think he just needs to grow up and do his job, and from those who support his statements. However, it is Kaepernick's right to not stand for the “Star-Spangled Banner,” as well as not standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. So why is this such a problem?

According to the United States Constitution, peaceful protest is covered in the First Amendment. As is, by extension, not standing to honor the country. And yet, every day during the school year, students are taught they must stand, they must put their hand over their heart like a good patriot and pledge themselves to their country – whether they want to or not. If they do not stand, they are ridiculed and yes, even threatened because of this expression of their rights. Some may argue that because they are minors, the First Amendment does not apply – even though it does, as per the Thirteenth Amendment. The whole idea of this forced, undying love for a nation who's ideals you may not believe in is very Orwellian, if you think about it. North Korea does this, and people say how scary and tyrannical this is. Yet with America, it is perfectly fine and something we all must do, or we can “leave.” Leave? Why? Because we do not wish to honor, or dare I say worship, a flag that represents a country where the government wages wars over oil, barely gives veterans the benefits they deserve, does not believe in free, universal health care, systemically pushes minorities aside, and has a very large group of hardcore conservatives wanting the country to go back to the racist, sexist, atomic family days of the 1950s? Is that why we should leave? We have rights too.

But this is beyond students in schools. The National Anthem does in fact include an entire verse supporting slavery. This verse is, as it well should, cut from the official versions of the song: “No refuge could save the hireling and slave/From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave/And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave/O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” And it should be noted that there is racial injustice in this country. Take for example the recent killing of Philando Castile. Innocent man, reaching for his wallet. Shot and killed. Or Charles Kinsey, a behavioral therapist, trying to calm down his patient. He laid down on the road, hands in the air, pleading with the armed officers not to fire at him or the patient. But he was still shot, and when he asked the officer why, the officer simply responded “I don't know.” And even then – people still supported the officer. “He was doing what he thought was right!” “He shouldn't have had his hands in the air!” “So what? What about the white people killed by police?” Yes, more white people were killed by police officers this past year, but not for the same reasons black people were. Yet, in most instances, the officers were put back on the force, and acquitted like they were O.J. Simpson. Sometimes even, there is no evidence because they claim the body cameras (that conservatives think is just “liberals trying to ruin our law and order” even though it requires accountability) just fell off, so no evidence can be found – yet they also threaten to arrest people for recording encounters. Yeah, there are plenty of good cops. The good outnumber the bad. But there's still the corrupt, running around, with the American flag right on their shoulder.

This comes down to protests as well. Consistently, groups and people in comment sections, primarily white, say that black people, or just supporters of groups like Black Lives Matter, should just get a job and deal with the world around them. That their protests, by blocking roads and publicly demonstrating, are not peaceful, and they need to find a different way to protest. Yet when Kaepernick didn't stand, they said he shouldn't be doing that as a protest because now, “he's dishonoring the people who fought for those rights to not stand.” Guilt-tripping into standing for something you don't believe in? That's not very land of the free, now is it? His protest was quiet, simple. He didn't make a big announcement before the game, and only mentioned it when he was asked about it in a post-game interview. How else was he supposed to speak out? And don't say that because of his salary, he has no right speaking out against oppression. Yes, he makes a couple million a year. But nobody listens to the poor guys. They say they need to work and live in the real world. They only listen to the rich and powerful, except for when those rich do not agree with them, then they're commies who hate America. Is there supposed to be a way to protest that doesn't anger anyone? Or should minorities let all this hatred and racism hit them, and just deal with it because that's “how it's going to have to be”? That's not a free country, that's a country where only some people are free and able to live without fear of being shot because they were reaching for their wallet or being profiled in an airport.

Kaepernick has made statements after this first post-game interview against police brutality. He said that “a cosmetologist has more education than a police officer.” Which is perfectly true – police training takes about six months, whereas cosmetology takes ten. The San Francisco Police Department released their own statement, disagreeing with his views and saying he is an “embarrassment” to the NFL and does not accept the “facts” involving minorities. They did not take kindly to him saying the truth, and now are pushing for a public apology. Only when he called out police did they turn against him. They themselves are denying that there is racial profiling rampant within the American police force – which makes them art of the problem that Kaepernick is protesting. The release even had the audacity to say he should be speaking up for the “murder of 40 police officers” or the “8,000 murders African-Americans inflicted on each other.” So because of these, he should not care about the racism and unnecessary murders of unarmed black people in America by police? What about the white people killed by other white people? That statistic is much higher. The SFPD also made it about them, inviting Kaepernick to the station to take part in “any of the simulations” they have set up for training. That there is no “basis” for his claims of racial bias. As if they are the real victims here, not people like Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Charles Kinsey, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Rodney King, and the list goes on. It shouldn't be going on. I've said it before and I'll say it again – if there was no racial profiling within the system, then all those people would still be alive.

So yes, Kaepernick is doing the right thing. He's standing up for something he believes in. He wants America to treat all people equally, which is something we still need to work on. By not standing, Kaepernick is exercising the rights that we all have. He will not leave this country, because here he has the ability and right to sit down during a song and by extension, a pledge chosen to help sell American flags to schools. Standing and pledging yourself to a nation is actually a very common daily routine in a dictatorship, and Kaepernick won't stand and honor a flag representing a nation of racial tension. I agree with what he is doing. I think that any true, hardworking, conservative American should as well. Because he is doing exactly what he thinks is right, and is protected under the First Amendment. You can disagree, but to try to make the police victims and the innocents murdered by them the real enemy, only makes you part of the problem. It makes the struggles of minorities in this country belittled and cast aside. This all is a peaceful protest. Did you want something more peaceful? Did you want him to stay silent? Change is going to happen whether you like it or not, and Kaepernick is looking to be a leader in a long-awaited movement against blind love for a nation.