Standing for the national anthem is not mandatory, and I hope it never will be. Freedom of speech is not something to take for granted, and you should be grateful to live in a country that has that freedom. Colin Kaepernick, the San Francisco 49ers' quarterback, gained a lot of attention from the media lately because he chooses to take a knee during the national anthem at each game. When asked why, his response was, "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color." Some argue that he was disrespecting the military or that there were "less disrespectful ways" to make his point, but I disagree and here's why:
Why the argument “but so many died fighting for that flag” doesn't work
This doesn’t work because 1. They did not fight for a flag per se. They did not fight for a symbol of America, they fought for America itself. 2. Since when is the American flag only representative of the American military? Since when is the national anthem only an anthem for the American military? People confuse the flag and the anthem as something that represents only the military. This is wrong. These two American icons represent the nation AS A WHOLE. By kneeling or sitting for the national anthem, Colin is making a comment that America as a whole is not doing enough for its non-white citizens. It is not a disrespectful action towards the military.
Check your privilege
Refusing to stand for the national anthem is not something that should disgust you. Kaepernick is not a patriot, so what? It’s the same concept as this: I’m not Christian, so I sit silent while my sorority prays before dinner. That also should not disgust you. If you are disgusted it means that you just don’t respect people’s differences. Now, it would be a totally different story if he were to burn an American flag or if I were to burn a Bible. That would be something worth being disgusted about as it would be a sign of hate and ill-will. If you are disgusted by Kaepernick taking a stand (or rather a seat) against institutionalized racism in America, then you’re just failing to check your own privilege.
Reasons why Kaepernick takes a knee
In case you don't believe Kaepernick when he says that this country still oppresses its non-white citizens, here are a few examples of why he sits during the national anthem:
- In the U.S., African Americans' poverty rate is 27.4%, Hispanics' rate is 26.6%, and whites' is 9.9%.
- Black people make up between 12-13% of the general American population, but 37% of the prison population (as of 2014).
- Between 2008 and 2012, 12,765 people were killed by police officers. Of those, 51.1% were black and 46.3% were white. OVER. HALF. WERE. BLACK.
- In 2010, the U.S. Sentencing Commission reported that black people get 10% longer sentences than whites for the same crimes.
- In 2015, the average hourly wage for white people in America was $25.22, but only $18.49 for black people. This is the highest this wage gap has been in 40 years.
- In NYC, 80% of traffic stops stops made were of black or Hispanic people, and 85% of those people were frisked, compared to only 8% of white people who were stopped.
Why his method worked
Image credit: http://insider.foxnews.com/2016/08/27/nfl-quarterb...
Kaepernick wanted to show his support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and he picked his method deliberately. Think about it. The image of someone refusing to stand for the national anthem at such a public event is one that would upset quite a few people, thus starting a huge, nationwide conversation. It really got a lot of people talking about the issues he was trying to bring to light. If he would have picked a safer, less controversial method to do so, do you really think that many people would have talked about it? Really, I think he's a genius for coming up with something that's so controversial but is still a very peaceful protest.
