Fox News host Bill O’Reilly said on September 12 that protests by football players who refuse to stand for the national anthem should stop (video below). They are trying to generate change.
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In reality, whether Kaepernick stands, sits or kneels during the anthem will not change the lives of military families who have lost loved ones in armed conflicts around the world.
Second, some people wave the flag and bellow the National Anthem as validation of their patriotism, and yet their daily, ongoing actions undermine their professed love our nation and the principles for which it stands.
“It is overtly racist: ‘Stay in your place, black man.’ Just didn’t feel right to me”. And whatever else you think about the protest, it’s undeniable that Kaepernick has put the issue front and center (and linebacker and quarterback). Although it often may start with real discussion, it doesn’t take long for most to retreat to pre-established dogma and Facebook posts that are sure to squelch any type of productivity.
The debate over whether athletes should stand during the national anthem may have been kicked off this fall in the National Football League, but it has spread to the college ranks. Kaepernick is sitting in protest for the black men and women that are being killed in the streets by law enforcement, for the children that have parents in jail for nonviolent crimes, while a white man, Brock Turner, is sentenced to six months in jail for rape and only serves three months for good behavior. So, why do we trivialize this great national symbol by playing it before the most inconsequential of entertainment in our society, ball games? The best remark I’ve seen about Kaepernick was in a tweet from @BettyBowers, who wrote: “FUN FACT: Most people saying Colin Kaepernick is unpatriotic for criticizing America are wearing red ball caps that say America isn’t great”.
In a video message, Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin explained his team’s decision, saying, “We are a team comprised of individuals with diverse backgrounds, and as a team we have chosen to stand and interlock arms in unity”. Now his moment of awakening is starting to catch fire, and it’s sweeping across the National Football League as other players join in.
Ultimately, American protest is not just a right, nor even an obligation.
Oladipo spoke to TMZ Sports to clarify comments he made during an interview with Complex Sports – in which he was quoted as saying, “I truly believe” the protest will transfer to the National Basketball Association. Yet, he chose a time when he became the center of attention. I would never kneel for it.
“I don’t know if it helps”, Trump said. “But telling him that what he said and did was un-American is to lose sight of what it means to be an American”.
Regardless of whether one agrees with the message behind this protest, one can not say Kaepernick is being unappreciative of the rights afforded to him by this country. And even if we don’t agree with their method of protest, that doesn’t mean we dismiss their point.
We want athletes to be political on our own terms and only when it matches our own agendas.
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Kaepernick said that his approach to fighting police brutality had largely been formed by reading about a series of high-profile cases involving the death of black people following clashes with police, such as Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott and Eric Garner.
