The Week Behind (9-27-17)

The past week was filled with opinions. So many opinions. Opinions are fine, what wasn’t fine was that the overwhelming majority of those opinions presented no facts. People had every opportunity to do proper research, or simply sit and listen to a credible source. They didn’t, and here we are, days later, with a lot of confusion. By this time, you may have figured, I only have one topic this week, the NFL protests. Those protests may have taken place during the anthem, but to believe those men are protesting the anthem is just false.

Let’s start from the top: Colin Kaepernick

If you know me, you know that I have supported this man since he was playing college football in Nevada. I’ve always liked the way he played and the fact that he stood for more than getting first downs. He’s always been that way That isn’t a recent thing for him. I received a Kaepernick Super Bowl jersey the Christmas that occurred around a year from Kaep’s appearance in the big game. I loved it then, just like I love it now. I used to wear that jersey to class at East Gaston High, receiving dirty looks because it wasn’t a Panthers jersey. Those looks are a little different now, they’re no longer about the team, but the player. Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem last year to protest the injustices that men that look like him face. He kneeled, because after speaking to one of the veteran’s people assume hate him, he learned that kneeling would be much less offensive than sitting down during the anthem. That sparked national conversation on whether this protest was acceptable.

Those who thought the protest was disrespectful, noted veterans and the military as their reason for outrage. That’s not the issue. I know because both my father and grandfather are veterans with no issue on the protest. Those aren’t even the only veterans in my family, just the ones I am closest to. But not one of them agree that it’s disrespectful. Why? Because they fought for this country, and upon their arrival back to this land, they received no more rights, or any better treatment as black men. Even, the most notable veteran during this protest, Alejandro Villanueva, disagreed that these protests were disrespectful, or that these men didn’t respect men like himself.

Kaepernick knelt first, and by himself, until his teammates and other guys around the league decided to join. He was kneeling injustices against black people. The men who knelt this week had another issue at mind, for the most part. They knelt because President Trump, who has never liked the protests, called anyone who protested a “son of a bitch,” and said they should be fired. In response, players around the NFL knelt in unity. Which was not better to those who disliked the protests. They said that it was “disrespectful to the anthem.” But isn’t the anthem about freedom? Doesn’t the U.S. offer justice for all? Because if it does then everyone who believes in the promise of this country should be just as passionate about changing it for the better, as they are about a guy taking a knee during a song. And if they care so much about veterans, maybe they should care as much on Tuesday, when guys are waiting all day for care at the VA hospital, as they do on Sunday on Twitter.