Colin Kaepernick is doing this because of “racial inequality,” I will give you a quick background of Colin’s life. Colin Kaepernick, was born to single white mother and had an African American biological father. Colin Kaepernick at the age of 5 weeks he was placed on adoption because his single mother unfortunately could not afford to raise him. He never met his birth father, and despite having no remembrance of his mother, has declined to visit her. His adoptive parents are both white. His adoptive father is an executive at Hilmar cheese company, based in Wisconsin, where Colin was raised until the age of 4 until his father was reassigned to California. His adoptive mother is a nurse. It is safe to say that Colin Kaepernick has never been denied any opportunity because of the color of his skin. He has played football since the age of 8 and was a 4.0 GPA student. Now he is receiving $10-19 million annually to sit on a bench and be a backup quarterback, according to spotrac.com. (This story was written prior to week 6 of the NFL)
Colin is standing down on the very flag that gives him the right to take that seat on the bench like he originally did. He didn’t kneel at first, which is at least a decent sign of respect, he sat on the bench while everybody else in that stadium stood with their hand on their heart. This caused a ripple effect, which players the next week on 9/11, which was this past Sunday, also took knees and some raised fists in support of black power. Kaepernick did not play until Monday.
The Black Power fist was used in the Civil Rights era in the United States and was very prominent during the 1968 Olympic Medal demonstration, which came with it’s own consequences. The Black Power fist is also used by the Black Panthers, which is a Black Nationalist Party. Similar to the KKK, as they are a white nationalist party/organization. Source for black panthers party: cbpm.org.
Do I think Colin Kaepernick is doing this the right way? Absolutely not. Sitting down on something that is supposed to unify us all as one is disrespectful to every American who has died for the cause of freedom, supporting that flag, and it’s song, the Star-Spangled Banner. I haven’t seen anything to show he has donated money or done volunteer work for any struggling black communities. Why should that be respected in the least? He’s not doing anything more than making a political stand in sports, which should have politics taken out of them. Period.
To fix racism, everyone must stop thinking of each other in terms of race and decide that today, I’m not a white-American, African-American, Latino-American, Asian-American, I’m just an American. And so long as I obey they law, don’t ruin someone’s stuff or personally attack them, I can do anything.
This is just another example of an actor/celebrity/athlete using their stage for a political stunt, much like the Cleveland Cavaliers did with the “I can’t breathe,” T-shirts, the Minnesota Lynx basketball team blackout, and other rappers, such as N.W.A. speaking out with unruly and inappropriate songs towards the people who protect us.
Guest Writer: Blake Aspen
Hello! My name is Blake Aspen! I’m pretty new here around the TCNO world, but I’ve got plenty to share. I love 3, 4…..well maybe an infinite amount of things like basketball, college football, and politicking at Hastings High School, I am on the basketball team and I am a FMP Mentor. By the way. I. Love. The. Tigers.
Colin Kaepernick has ignited lots of discussion over the past couple weeks as he knelt down during our country’s national anthem. Most of the arguments are about his salary, how the troops must feel, or his adoption by white parents.
His salary doesn’t matter. His fame doesn’t matter. Most of the troops actually are supporting Kaepernick because after all, his freedom to do this is what they fought for.
“Part of loving America is being able to say, ‘Look, we’ve got some issues, and I think we need to change some things.’ To be brave enough to be willing to stand up on a rooftop and shout it – that’s just as patriotic as painting your truck red, white, and blue,” says Matt Pelak, a 19-year Army veteran and a paratrooper to CSmonitor.com. “As veterans, we need to be more vocal about this. I support his ability to express himself, and this is what we fought for,” he adds. “It doesn’t offend me. He’s upset, he’s doing it for a valid reason, and I think he’s done a pretty good job of explaining it.”
Kaepernick is not kneeling for himself. He is kneeling for everyone else who has suffered from racial profiling or some kind of racial injustice, which happens almost every day in America. Even if he’s not putting money towards the BLM movement he is still raising awareness, which is just as important and more than anyone else is doing. We need to be aware of these things, whether people want to be or not. Kaepernick is using his position to do this and to hopefully make some serious changes. When these arguments come up, Kaepernick is being told to stay silent.
“To me, you’re telling me that my position and being quiet is more important than people’s lives,” Kaepernick says. All of those things are irrelevant to what Kaepernick is actually standing, or kneeling, for and trying to get people to understand.
Athletes are always being told to just stick with their sport. Run. Play. Score. But don’t talk. Do not voice your opinion. This message is given to athletes, so when they do speak up, when they do something other than score points for people’s enjoyment, it blows up. People disagree. And they have a right to, just like Kaepernick has a right to express his concerns and beliefs.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick states. I agree with what Kaepernick is doing because I think he is doing it for a good reason. It is about much more than just him ignoring the respect for our country. He is protesting police brutality, racial injustice, and raising awareness for things that we all need to be more aware of and concerned about. Kaepernick is saying things people need to hear, even if they disagree.
“I don’t want to kneel forever,” Kaepernick said. “I want these things to change. I do know it will be a process, and it is not something that will change overnight. But I think there are some major changes that we can make that are very reasonable.”
We can all do something to help these changes occur. Some people think after Martin Luther King, the issue of race has been addressed in our country, but the reality is if you’re a person of color in America there are still real obstacles in your path. It’s up to us to have these conversations because, in the end, the whole point of our national anthem is to celebrate the freedom of our country.
I think that controversial actions like what Kaepernick is doing right now above all else spur important conversations in our classrooms, coffee shops, and kitchen tables.
Guest Writer: Madison Beck
Hey! My name is Madison Beck. I am not on the newspaper staff, but I am always happy to help out with one of their ideas. I am a 15 year old sophomore who loves sour patch kids, ice cream, and the Tigers.
