FACE OFF: Colin Kaepernick - right or wrong?
POINT: Stand up Colin Kaepernick
I love sports.
When I began my journalism career, I was a college sports beat reporter. Whether my press-box peers back then wanted to admit it or not, they admired the athletes they cover.
I did, too.
Most of us were, and still are, motivated by the goal of someday covering an athlete young people across the country look up to.
An athlete like Colin Kaepernick.
I’ve always been a fan of the San Fransisco 49ers quarterback. His aggressive passing style and flashy wardrobe off the field symbolize everything a successful professional athlete can be.
Not anymore.
Kaepernick refuses to stand for the national anthem before games. Based on the way things have been going between him and the 49ers front office, I thought he was lobbying leverage for a trade.
Nope. This is a political statement. And an ill-advised one at that.
He’s upset about social injustice inflicted on minorities in this country. So, in strident protest, he refuses to stand during the national anthem — a tradition of national pride before athletic competition.
Activist pro athletes are not unfamiliar to us. Draft-dodging Muhammad Ali was outspoken against U.S. involvement in Vietnam. In 1968, American Olympic athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in a salute to black power as the national anthem played in Mexico City.
This is different.
Kaepernick is renouncing what the anthem, and the flag, stand for.
“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.
People are offended. They say Kaepernick is insulting the service of veterans defending our freedom. Kaepernick’s action is one of those freedoms, so that argument is weak at best.
Under the U.S. Constitution, Kaepernick is guaranteed the right to do as he pleases during the national anthem. I believe in and support that right.
He’s also not totally wrong. I know our country is flawed. Our ability to recognize those flaws and work to solve them is one of the beauties of our democracy. We need to disagree, not just for catharsis but for productivity.
I’m a white male.
So I can’t really speak on racial injustice in America. I’m just not so sure Kaepernick, a privileged Southern California native, can either. We the people will always be the participants in this debate. Stakeholders should shape the conversation, not pig-skin throwing egomaniacs with oversized wallets.
An open and honest discussion on the issues that matter most will always be the best remedy for social change.
Instead, an immature sit-in on the 50-yard line by an entitled 28-year-old millionaire passes for a political statement.
If Kaepernick really wants to make a statement, perhaps he should refuse the multi-million-dollar paycheck his team's owner, who is white, signs every season. Maybe he should not take endorsement money from the evil capitalist businesses like Jaguar and MusclePharm that rig the system against minorities.
I’m not holding my breath, waiting for that type of protest.
What Kaepernick is doing is not only foolish, but it is dangerous. A prideless country is not one I want to live in. Disrespect for American tradition erodes our values and opens the door to an echo chamber of criticism with no solution.
Institutional racism is complicated. Thankfully, there are people in this country that have the freedom to dedicate their lives to destroying it.
Kind of like Kaepernick has dedicated his life to playing football. A mission that has earned him the platform he now unapologetically abuses.
I’m not offended because of Kaepernick’s disrespect for what the flag supposedly stands for.
I’m offended on behalf of the real activists who devote their lives to actively fighting inequality and racism in America. To compare their fight to one jock who simply won’t stand is insulting.
As for Kaepernick’s line of work, he should probably keep his mouth shut on politics and stick to playing football.
COUNTER-POINT: Kaepernick’s sit-in is wholly American
I too love sports. I too love America, and all that this country stands for. So does Colin Kaepernick.
He and I both stand for freedom and equality. For those reasons, I defend Kaepernick’s decision to sit down while our national anthem plays before Sunday football games.
First and foremost, Kaepernick has the expressed right to protest against whatever injustice he sees. It is an inherent right granted to all Americans – the literal bedrock of our democracy.
It’s wrong for anyone to question his allegiance to America, or at worst, present his protest as hypocritical – people like Sean Hannity, and my friend and colleague, Dominick Mastrangelo.
Nowhere in our U.S. Constitution, and its associated Bill of Rights, are there explicit instructions on how to practice American values. Nowhere in either of those documents exists a set of requirements to worship flags or anthems.
Some have called his choice halfhearted and hollow. Some believe his large NFL payday bars him from speaking out against injustice and inequality. To the contrary, I believe people of great influence have a responsibility to stand or sit in opposition to those systems we deem unjust.
Like Kaepernick, I believe systemic racism is a major problem affecting our country. I agree that our lawmakers, judges and law enforcement have done the absolute bare minimum to curb these injustices.
Like Kaepernick, I am fed up with America. But not because I hate her.
She just isn’t living up to her fullest potential. She has yet to fulfill the high expectations set by our Founding Fathers. All men and women deserve the same inalienable protection under the rule of law.
America, you still fall short of that high bar.
I’m sure Kaepernick was prepared to deal with the backlash. The fact that people are frothing in hatred baffles me, but it’s their right to do so. What is more disturbing is the belief that Kaepernick’s protest is without merit.
No one recalls the “Miracle on Ice” as a pointless act of political posturing. No one recalls Muhammad Ali’s stand against the Vietnam War as attention seeking.
Kaepernick is certainly not the first high-profile athlete to protest the mistreatment of minorities. He certainly won’t be the last. Sports stars use their positions of power to bring effective awareness to the issues they care about.
Kaepernick is no different.
It is my hope that that we soon find a cultural solution to systemic racism. I want my son or daughter to thrive in an America that values diversity. I hope my child learns about Colin Kaepernick in elementary school – the same way I learned about Tommie Smith and John Carlos.
I hope my child loves America like I do. Most of all, I want my child to understand that it’s OK to be angry with her if she doesn’t live up to expectations.
