I read your article in the sports section of the school paper about Colin Kaepernick’s decision to sit during the national anthem. I have to say that I feel that the article is a bit biased. I’ve noticed that you interviewed four people who support him but only one who is against, and you immediately shot her down with your own opinion. But I am not here to criticize your selection of interviews. I am here to simply give my two cents about the topic.
I agree that it’s Colin’s First Amendment right to sit or stand during the anthem. It is also his First Amendment right to say that this country oppresses black people if he feels that it does. I agree those are his rights. However, I don’t agree with his reasoning. He says he won’t show pride for a country that opresses black people, but that’s not what the anthem nor the flag stands for. I am offended by my country every single day. I won’t stand for a country that says guns don’t belong in the hands of citizens. I won’t stand for a country that I feel unfairly treats my brothers and sisters in Christ. I won’t stand for a country that no longer represents me in government. Yet I still stand during the anthem. Why? Because I stand for the American idea that all men are free to speak, free to protest, free to worship and free to stand or sit.
So Kaepernick is wrong to say that the flag and the anthem represent oppression of black people. He says he sits because of oppression but even Martin Luther King Jr. stood during the Civil Rights Era. If Kaepernick believes black people deserve equality, he should stand. To some people, especially those who are against Kaepernick’s decision, when someone sits during the anthem it shows that they don’t believe what America is supposed to be, that all men shouldn’t be free and shouldn’t have certain unalienable rights. I agree that there is a racism problem with this country and I agree that there are some cops who are racist. But if he believes that ALL men are created equal, that ALL men have certain unalienable rights, then he should stand for that.
Cory Thompson
Social studies major
ThompsonCJ@jbu.edu