We saw Colin Kaepernick do it last year, and we’re seeing a resurgence in it again: NFL players are kneeling during the national anthem before the start of an NFL game. Some have said, “That’s anti-American! What about the veterans and troops that have fought for us and are still fighting for us?” These are the vacuous statements I’ve heard throughout this national debate, but people are failing to actually comprehend why NFL players are kneeling; it’s not to protest the flag, and it’s not because NFL players hate the United States of America; it’s because they love it.
What Colin Kaepernick and NFL players have been doing is downright patriotic. Kaepernick started to sit during the national anthem in 2015, before kneeling in 2016, gaining media attraction. When the media frenzy swarmed in at a NFL press conference, he deemed, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” Kaepernick set the precedent that others, not just professional athletes, but athletes on the spectrum from collegiate and high school, are following.
People have to keep in mind that this country was not built for people of color; it was built on the backs of them. The fundamentals of “We the People” in the Constitution does not represent people of color to any extent. As American citizens, we have a First Amendment right to peacefully protest, and pro-athletes are doing just that. Protesting is the central root of American ideology, but it’s a problem when black bodies are the ones protesting. It’s a problem when we’re protesting black issues, like police brutality. It’s a problem when we’re protesting discrimination. It’s only a problem when the hierarchy don’t support it; and the privileged systematically do not support issues pertaining to people of color. Racism is so American that when protests happen, some Americans assume we’re protesting America.
Kneeling for the National Anthem expresses the power for shifting change. Kneeling is a form of power that historically has been taken from black people. As much as political culture is thrusting itself into pop and now sports culture, we need to focus on mobilizing others into the fight against racism, not on the voice of a tweet. I stand in solidarity with the fight to halt the oppression of black and brown people in America, and I’ll gladly be called a son of a b**** for that cause.