Colin Kaepernick, Quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, began his peaceful protest of the National Anthem in response to the treatment of African-American citizens at the beginning of the NFL preseason. With this small action, Kaepernick joined the ranks of other athletes in protest and hundreds of thousands of citzens all proclaiming that Black Lives Matter.

However, when someone noticed after the 49ers and Packers faced off and an explanation from Kaepernick was given, madness ensued. People everywhere were enraged. Unsurprisingly, most of these critics were not people of color.

Last week after everything blew up, I did what I normally do not do after a controversy such as this occurs: I looked through the tags on my social media platforms, namely Twitter and Facebook. What I saw angered me and shocked me. I am aware of the ignorance regularly displayed on social media, but never had a seen it on this level.

The normal "go back to Africa" troupe and flagrant use of the "n-word" didn't phase me as much due to the fact that it has become all too normal. The denial of his experience as a Black man in this country because of his upbringing, his mixed race and his economic privilege as a NFL player in order to discredit him provided me endless frustration (it wasn't the point).

What angered me the most was the consistent denial of the fact that racism still exists and pervades the everyday interactions of minorities in this country.

This justification for this line of thinking? The election of President Barack Obama. This is not a joke. People actually believe that racism died when we elected a black President.

This is a thought that I have heard ever since January 2008 when President Obama was sworn in for the first time. In fact, if I had a dollar for every time I heard "Racism doesn't exist, we have a Black President", I would be able to pay my tuition.

My dearest Non-POC citizens of the United States, I kindly ask you to stop internalizing this thought and stop saying this. When you say this, you do the following:

1. Display a naivete that dances the fine line of blind ignorance.

This country was built on the backs of African slaves who did not ask to be here--not to mention the slaughter of Native Americans and treatment of other POC groups throughout the history of this country. After the bloodiest war fought on American soil ended, this country provided little to no help in order properly integrate African Americans into society.

There were laws that African Americans had to fight against in order gain the same basic rights as White men. Not only were African Americans fighting for basic rights and privileges, they also were being fell prey to being victims of systems put in place that undermined their community at large including a Eugenics movement with forced sterilizations.

Let me ask you a question: Do you really think the entire history of this country was wiped away because the DNC and Electoral College decided to divert from the norm of choosing old white men to run the country? Let's be honest here. I'll give you a hint: the answer is no.

2. Help to perpetuate the problem at hand.

When you follow this line of thinking, you breed an atmosphere where POCs feel that that cannot speak out on an injustice they see (i.e. Mr. Kaepernick's protest or even just using the BLM hashtag). When you use this type of language you tell POCs that their opinions, lives, and experiences do not matter.

When you say that racism does not exist anymore because of the ethnicity of President is the same as person who is systematically disenfranchised, you are telling them to sit down and shut up and become an obstacle to progression and that you are willing to ignore what is right in front of you at the sake of comfortability.

Let's take a look at this quote from Martin Luther King Jr's "Letter from A Birmingham Jail."

I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season."

See? One of the most important leaders of the Civil Rights Movement practically said the same thing 53 years ago.

President Obama is only POTUS for four more months. What excuse will you have after he's gone? Don't be an obstacle, be part of the solution.