OK. I have to comment on this whole Kaepernick/NFL players kneeling before the American National Anthem before their games. It is a controversial issue that just won’t go away, so why not put in my own .02.
So Colin Kaepernick from the San Francisco 49’ers decided to take a knee rather than stand for our National Anthem before a pre-season game and all subsequent games as a protest, stating something along the lines of ‘Why would I want to stand for the flag of a country that opresses black people and people of color’.
A lot of people, the majority, commend his actions, stating that the opression by cops and other groups of people of black people must stop, and must stop now.
I disagree with his taking a knee, and here is why.
The Anthem was penned by Francis Scott Key after the war of 1812, after witnessing the Battle of Baltimore by the British Navy. It is an ode to the fact that our independence still stood; as the symbol of it still flew through the wind despite a bloody bombardment. This Anthem was written to say that we are one nation, under solidarity, and the message for current days, is that we are free. Free from colonialism, free from many things that a lot of countries don’t get the luxury of having.
Black lives matter. Hispanic lives matter. White lives matter. Indian lives matter. ALL LIVES F’IN MATTER. We are all people in this country – we are all people in this world.
kneeling before America’s National Anthem not only shows disrespect for freedom from tyranny, it also shows disrespect for those veterans and current members of the military who fight/fought for the freedom of this country. Having a sort of Father-In-Law who served in the United States Navy, I can understand the intolerance of such an act.
Since Kaepernick’s kneeling, 27 – ish more black men and *even more white men* have been shot by police.
Here is why I think, when it appears to happen unjustly, that it happens in the first place. It all dates back to equality. Stay with me here. Black people are disenfranchised. So much so that a black person wearing a hoody looks more sketchy than a white person wearing a hoody. Want to know why? Black people live in impoeverished areas where drugs are found. Where weapons are used more frequently. Where issues with the police are frequent. I’d venture to guess there aren’t as many Armani suit wearing black people as there are black people in hoodies and baggy jeans.
Black people shuld never be profiled. I am against that. There are many good white people and many bad white people. Same for any race. But what black people need to realize – and everyone for that matter, is that they created their own circle swinging culture of this behavior themselves. They call each other the ‘N’ word, which is the most demoralizing and disrespectful word anyone could call them. They shoot EACH OTHER, and have problems with each other in their own communities. They perpetuate the violence *themselves*. I don’t know of many other races who call themselves by disparaging names and then shoot each other. White people have originally created this inequality that exists (don’t tell me it doesn’t exist), but black people have taken and run with it.
Kneel for the Anthem that has nothing to do with the improverished, the profiled, the men who look suspicious. But just know that the Anthem has everything to do with staying united, being one, working toward the good of man, freedom, and the ability to love all for all they are.
The flag still stood after battle, and it will always stand at stporting events regardless of what you believe in. It’s always going to be there. Will you still take a knee 20 years from now while it still stands? If so, it’s message will still be clear.
