All eyes will be on San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick at a Thursday night football game to see if he will sit again during the US national anthem in protest of racial injustice in the United States.
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It’s unclear how the public will perceive Kaepernick’s protest over time, but the reaction from a military-dominated crowd in San Diego tonight might offer some hints.
“The American flag and the American anthem has to protect all of its people and that is what he’s doing, putting focus on it to say, hey we are wrapping ourselves in the American flag, and Old Glory we want you, we want Old Glory to wrap itself around us as well”.
The NFL has said players are “encouraged but not required” to stand during the national anthem. There’s things we can do to hold them more accountable. “There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder”.
Colin Kaepernick sparked a national debate after sitting during the national anthem at a recent game. I have to believe a lot more people would cut them some slack due to their athletic and cultural influence, which is unfair to Kaepernick; that’s making the situation about him and not the cause he’s advocating.
But a big question heading into Thursday night isn’t about Kaepernick’s shoulder.
Carlos is happy to welcome Kaepernick to the club. Perhaps some day the quarterback will explore Ali’s criticism of US foreign policy and revise his own vacuous comments about soldiers “fighting for freedom”. Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, wrote in his autobiography that he was unable to sing the national anthem or salute the flag.
The national anthem and sports first merged in the early 20th century, when “The Star-Spangled Banner” became part of baseball games. It should have been a glorious moment for me as the stirring words of the national anthem poured from the stands.
It’s not my intention to get into that discussion, because both sides make good points that I agree with. “In 1972, in 1947, at my birth in 1919, I know that I never had it made”. “When there’s significant change and I feel like that flag represents what it’s supposed to represent, this country is representing people the way that it’s supposed to, I’ll stand”. And they fight for freedom, they fight for the people, they fight for liberty and justice, for everyone.
“We tend to think of patriotism as love of country that is linked to larger principles”, Huiskamp said. The biracial Kaepernick has been outspoken on his Twitter account on civil rights issues and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
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So, again, I ask of those who were angered and disgusted over Kaepernick’s failure to fall into knee jerk acceptance of a symbol because of his concern with the reality of racial inequality and injustice, hard-wired into the American system since the days of the Founding Fathers failed in their execution of the ideal of freedom for all: where was your anger over the reality of injustice, and how did you express yourselves?
