Con: Colin Kaepernick in the Wrong
September 2, 2016
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided once again to remain seated for the national anthem, only this time, on the Chargers’ annual “salute to the military” night Thursday, making an even bigger fool of himself.
Kaepernick, for the second preseason game in a row, has chosen to not take part in the national anthem because, as he has said, he can’t “show pride in a flag of a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”
Racism is a real issue in this country, but refusing to participate in a tradition held to honor those who have served in the military is not the time to combat the problem.
Kaepernick comes off as ignorant. He makes millions of dollars every because his freedom has been fought for by our military. I understand he is trying to be an activist, but he is bringing his personal agenda to his profession. The national anthem itself does not spark debate on its own, and it does not make a racist out of someone who sings along, so why choose to boycott the anthem?
Kaepernick’s actions have put pressure on anyone who supports his cause to also sit down during the national anthem. This is direct disrespect towards the military. Simply because they fought for a country that is struggling through a time of racism does not mean they should be publicly disrespected. Kaepernick has unintentionally tied together supporting the national anthem with accepting racism.
When the national anthem plays, we stand to honor those who protect our country, those who died for our country. It unites us as independent from outside nations. In no way does it represent that we are perfect inside our borders, but it is there to honor those who fought to keep us independent. Without them, Kaepernick wouldn’t be able to play the sport he makes a living from. He is showing arrogance to the country that gave him everything he has.
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Jack Hauser is the Goat • Sep 9, 2016 at 2:36 pm
All I know is that jack is the goat for writing this article. #dab #goat #goatemoji #USA #Bestnationonthecountry #VoteforTrump
Maryann Zounes • Sep 5, 2016 at 9:56 am
This is a reminder for all you kids: As a protest against the Vietnam war we not only remained seated during the National Anthem, but we refused to say the pledge of allegiance to the flag. Yes Kaepernick may be showing disrespect to the USA, but he certainly is bringing issue and conversation to the problem of racism in this country.
Jeremy Wuertz • Sep 4, 2016 at 9:10 am
Great article Jack!
Thomas Preston • Sep 3, 2016 at 2:58 pm
As a War Veteran, I strongly suggest the writer of this piece take a course in Constitutional law and the First Amendment before tendering such an opinion or judgement of Colin, as this appears to be. One needn’t be a Veteran or even military to be able to define nor have a relevant opinion on this issue. So, I do not impugn your expression of opinion here. However, it must be understood that those who have fought for and have given life and limb for this country did so to protect the very right you are saying Colin was wrong to express. I hope the irony is clear. Our nation was founded on civil protest, it’s a long-standing tradition that completely underscores the rights that are protected by the Constitution; so to somehow suggest he was wrong to protest in his Constitutionally-protected personally-chosen manner seems diametrically opposed to Constitutional principles. If his expression offends you, that is the point, isn’t it? If the First Amendment only protected expressions with which we agree, of what value would be the Right? We do not stand for the Anthem to honor those who fought on the battlefield. We stand for our own personal reasons, ones that aren’t anyone else’s business, and we express ourselves freely because that is our right as free Americans. If you researched it, you might discover that the Anthem was written in protest of African American soldiers who fought against the southerners in The Civil War. To many, then, the Anthem represents a celebration of slavery and oppression. Feigned respect and patriotism is neither. We either celebrate our own personal choice to express ourselves freely for whatever reason and no matter how rich or poor, or we should just admit we do not fully understand what the First Amendment actually represents.
Josh Material • Sep 3, 2016 at 10:48 am
I just gotta leave this here…
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
This are some of the lyrics that the National Anthem includes. This is a race issue, one that has plagued the US for hundreds of years. The first amendment to the constitution protects him, as well as protects you. Make sure you have all the facts before you write a piece so accessible to the whole world.
Caroline Daniel • Sep 3, 2016 at 10:17 am
Hey Jack,
I’m a former writer and editor for the paper, so I hope you don’t see this comment as me attacking you, but I truly just want to explain to you why Kaepernick’s actions in no way are an offense to the military and why using the military as a scapegoat for shaming Kaepernick is actually worse and more offensive then him sitting for the national anthem.
To start, the NFL and every individual team do not, under any circumstances, have to play the national anthem before any football game. It’s not some law and it’s not required by the federation, the NFL are actually paid millions of dollars every year in taxpayer money to play the national anthem and have color guard performances on the field. If the NFL wasn’t paid this money, sure they might still play the national anthem, after all they did it before the government started paying them too, but they probably wouldn’t have a whole American flag and the entire color guard thing happen at EVERY a game. Also, when you do have to start paying taxes if you don’t already, don’t you wish the $6.8 million dollars the NFL was paid last year in your money went to something more important like, I don’t know, veteran health care maybe?
Second, Kaepernick excercised his first amendment constitutional rights. You are not required to stand for the pledge or the national anthem. I, as an American citizen for my entire life, no longer put my hand over my heart or rarely even stand for the pledge or the national anthem if it’s played in public. These songs, to me, represent a white nationalist view of this country and I do not believe they are anything more than words. I do not have any pride in those songs, and Kaepernick is allowed to feel the same.
Third, and the reason scapegoating the military is in fact more offensive then what Kaepernick did is this: the men and women in our military did not join the military for a song. They joined because they had to, or they wanted to, maybe they needed money for school or it was a family tradition. But I really don’t believe a single person in the military heard the national anthem and truly thought to themselves, “wow this song is amazing, I should join the military.” Kaepernick himself has said that he has friends and family in the military and it was in no way offensive to him. People I know and people on the internet who are in the military have come to Kaepernick’s defense. To use the military as a way to tell Kaepernick that his silent, non violent, non harmful way of protesting wasn’t good enough for white people is ridiculous. It’s a scapegoat, and it’s offensive to think people joined the military and put their whole life into it for a such a simple reason and frankly a bad song (have you heard some other countries national anthems? Ours honestly sucks.)
So overall, I really think it’s more important that you google way Kaepernick sat down then who he’s offending. If a single white athletes in the NFL sat down for this same reason, do you think he’d be just as scrutinized?