This past Friday, Colin Kaepernick, the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers decided he was not going to stand up for the National Anthem with the rest of the arena. When asked about why he did not participate, Kaepernick stated, "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color, to me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder." I completely understand where he is coming from in his reasoning for doing this and I support the first amendment (freedom of speech) as much as the next person, but not standing for the National Anthem was not the way to get his point across.

To me, not standing up for the National Anthem is one of most disrespectful things an American can do. Not only is it disrespectful to the country as a whole, but what about all of the soldiers who put their own lives on the line every single day, so that he can play a game. There are soldiers who are fans of him and his team and even players who either fought for his country previously or who are currently fighting after leaving the NFL to do so. What he did was hurtful to all of those people and so many more.

I am a supporter of the Black Lives Matter Movement, but there are so many different things he could have done. Things that would not be disrespectful to the country that, whether he likes it or not, he is a part of. He could have made a video expressing his feelings, joined one of the many rallies that take place, or even better yet he could make the millions he makes actually serve a purpose and put it towards helping out the groups that are fighting for the same thing he says he is.

I am not sure what he hopes to happen by refusing to stand, because the way I see it, doing this benefits absolutely no one and I highly doubt it will make any sort of difference and isn't that exactly what he should be trying to do?