San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has received a huge amount of attention since he began, in protest, refusing to stand for the national anthem before his team’s games.“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” he said.Since then, athletes in several sports and at all levels, including high school, have followed his example. But critics say his choice disrespects America and the veterans who fought for the country’s freedoms.Is it appropriate to protest during the national anthem? Protests aren’t supposed to make you feel good.
Protests are supposed to make you feel angry. They’re supposed to grab your attention. They’re supposed to make you think about things you’d normally ignore. And if they’re really successful, they even get you to take action.Colin Kaepernick’s anthem protest has accomplished at least three of those four goals. The spread of that protest - high school athletes and college marching band members have now joined in - suggests he has hit a nerve: Black Americans are still too often treated as second-class citizens in this country.You’re mad about that? Good.You’re angry about protests against that? That’s still great - because it means, even if you disagree, that you can’t pretend there’s not a problem. As the kids like to say: Sorry, not sorry.Kaepernick’s critics have offered a variety of reasons his protest might be inappropriate: He’s rich. His act disrespects veterans who fought for freedom. It’s not fun for people who turn to football as an escape to be forced to deal with the ugly world of politics.But being rich doesn’t necessarily buffer you from the legal humiliations that seem to go with being African-American: Remember when Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested at his own house after an officer responded to a break-in report? That can happen to white people - but it doesn’t seem to, not very often.And while veterans deserve our respect for fighting for our freedoms, it’s also the case that respect is often used as a tool to discourage Americans from actually exercising the freedoms that they defended. Simply put: The argument is nonsense.As for missing the escape that football provides: Well, boo hoo. You can’t handle two minutes of protest out of three hours of entertainment? You can’t turn on the TV five minutes later to avoid the spectacle you hate? Toughen up, sports fans.Truth is, there’s probably no satisfying the critics. So Kaepernick should continue his protest. And if that gets people upset, well, good. That means the protest is working. Joel Mathis is an award-winning writer in Kansas. Reach him at joelmmathis@gmail.com.San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has received a huge amount of attention since he began, in protest, refusing to stand for the national anthem before his team’s games.“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” he said.Since then, athletes in several sports and at all levels, including high school, have followed his example. But critics say his choice disrespects America and the veterans who fought for the country’s freedoms.Is it appropriate to protest during the national anthem?Protests aren’t supposed to make you feel good.
Protests are supposed to make you feel angry. They’re supposed to grab your attention. They’re supposed to make you think about things you’d normally ignore. And if they’re really successful, they even get you to take action.Colin Kaepernick’s anthem protest has accomplished at least three of those four goals. The spread of that protest - high school athletes and college marching band members have now joined in - suggests he has hit a nerve: Black Americans are still too often treated as second-class citizens in this country.You’re mad about that? Good.You’re angry about protests against that? That’s still great - because it means, even if you disagree, that you can’t pretend there’s not a problem. As the kids like to say: Sorry, not sorry.Kaepernick’s critics have offered a variety of reasons his protest might be inappropriate: He’s rich. His act disrespects veterans who fought for freedom. It’s not fun for people who turn to football as an escape to be forced to deal with the ugly world of politics.But being rich doesn’t necessarily buffer you from the legal humiliations that seem to go with being African-American: Remember when Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested at his own house after an officer responded to a break-in report? That can happen to white people - but it doesn’t seem to, not very often.And while veterans deserve our respect for fighting for our freedoms, it’s also the case that respect is often used as a tool to discourage Americans from actually exercising the freedoms that they defended. Simply put: The argument is nonsense.As for missing the escape that football provides: Well, boo hoo. You can’t handle two minutes of protest out of three hours of entertainment? You can’t turn on the TV five minutes later to avoid the spectacle you hate? Toughen up, sports fans.Truth is, there’s probably no satisfying the critics. So Kaepernick should continue his protest. And if that gets people upset, well, good. That means the protest is working.Joel Mathis is an award-winning writer in Kansas. Reach him at joelmmathis@gmail.com.
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