By Brandon Sapienza
Since Colin Kaepernick decided not to stand for the national anthem last season, sports have become more about politics and social issues than the game itself. As a result, athletes from many different leagues, including the NFL, NBA and MLB, have chosen to protest during the national anthem in some form.
Many of those participating in these protests use the same reasoning Kaepernick did last year.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” said Kaepernick.
Many people see these protests as a bold and acceptable statement. In reality, the protests continue to show young people around the United States that if your feelings are hurt, you can do whatever you want, including disrespect the flag that so many have fought and died for.
From all angles, the argument Kaepernick presented in 2016 is not legitimate. While the United States was not founded on principles of acceptance of all people, including African Americans, the fact of the matter is that in the present day, all cultures, races, genders and sexual preferences are accepted more than ever.
The word commonly thrown around in these protests of our national anthem and flag is “oppression.” This begs the question; what goes on in the U.S. that comes close to resembling the oppression of slavery in the 1800’s?
There are more African-Americans in college and the workforce than ever before. As we saw in last weeks’ round of NFL games, the protests that occurred by many of the teams were directed at comments made by President Trump last Friday.
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a b**** off the field right now, out, he’s fired,” said Trump.
What Trump said at that rally was wrong by all means, and it is not appropriate to have a president forbidding players from exercising their first amendment right. However, in response to Trump’s comments the Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans opted not even to show up on the field for the national anthem. That is even worse than kneeling. At least those who took a knee show some form of respect for the flag.
Refusing to even show up is a blatant act of total disrespect to our country and those who defend it. These players have every right not to stand or be present for the national anthem. Yet, it should be considered un-American to do so.
No one can stop people from believing what they believe and acting the way they do, but when there is no form of oppression occurring, one has to wonder why these multi-million dollar players choose not to be American.
sapienbm17@bonaventure.edu
