The moment LeBron James, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwyane Wade took the stage at the 2016 ESPY Awards this past summer and called for professional athletes to take a stand in America's racial conflict, they threw another knot in the intertwined worlds of American sports and politics. Their goal was to use their platform to promote social change, and they called other African-American athletes to do the same. They saw themselves as the leaders of a revolution; thinking that they could change something they felt was unjust through their status and fame. At the time, nobody truly knew how other athletes would respond to the NBA stars' challenge. Some in the industry believed that little progress would actually be made, while others felt that this could truly be the start of a movement. Colin Kaepernick, the starting quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, for better or worse, fell into the latter category, and decided that he was going to take a stand against this perceived injustice. Through three preseason games, Kaepernick has refused to stand during the national anthem, a timeless precedent in American sports, proclaiming that he, "Will not stand for a flag that oppresses black people and people of color," a decision that has led to massive media scrutiny.

Rarely does an athlete possess such a vehement political sentiment that he refuses to honor the country which gave him everything. When reviewing this case, one must realize that Kaepernick is only a public figure because of the country that he continues to disrespect, making millions of dollars playing a sport that doesn't exist in any other nation. America owes him nothing, she granted him the same shot to achieve his American Dream as everyone else. Therefore, how does Kaepernick have any grounds to stand against the United States, whose own First Amendment allows him to spit in the face of everything that she has done for him? It's not that his point is incorrect, something does need to be done to reconcile racial relations in America, but watching an American icon dishonor our country in front of millions of viewers, including children, is the complete wrong way to go about it.

It's truly saddening and unfortunate to imagine the current and former military members who watched or will watch a 49ers game this season, as one of the people they worked so hard to protect will say that their service wasn't enough, that a starting NFL quarterback will refuse to appreciate the very people who allowed him to grace the stage of the gridiron. Playing a sport professionally is not a privilege that is bestowed upon everyone, and it's ironic that Kaepernick, one of the select few who was chosen, refuses to stand and pay respect like all others.

The real problem here is the method of Kaepernick's approach, and there are other African-American athletes that have taken a stand against racial violence without dishonoring their country. DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers, who helped Team USA claim Olympic gold in men's basketball this summer in Rio, is a prime example. "For me, playing on Team USA is a huge honor...It’s bigger than the Clippers, it’s bigger than Duke, it’s bigger than everything. It’s a huge honor to be representing your country. I’ve dreamed about this since I was a kid..." You don't have to reject the anthem to take a stand, and it's truly ironic how the protest has actually sparked more debate over the ethics of Kaepernick's actions as opposed to the claim he is attempting to warrant through said actions.

It doesn't have to be this way. An entire nation is watching Colin Kaepernick's next move, and no one is sure how much impact this protest could truly have in everything from sports, to legislation, to racial violence itself. If anything is going to get done, we need to stop arguing over whether or not his protest is right or wrong and focus on actually hashing out our differences. The ball is in your court Colin, and it's time to choose. Stand, and unite all of us to fix our social issues, or sit, and sow the seeds of an even more divided America from the ground up, where the very problem you try to remedy will only make our nation sicker.