America vs. Kaepernick

Amani Dharani
Sep 6, 2018 · 2 min read

Nike’s new ad featuring Colin Kaepernick has refueled the debate this country seems to go back to time and time again — is Kaepernick’s decision to kneel for the national anthem disrespecting the members of our armed forces, and their families?

Social media, as usual, is teeming with opinions that are drawing attention to different sides of the argument. And a group of people on a certain side of the political spectrum are quite literally *freaking* out.

~Yeah they’re really out here burning their shoes and cutting off the swooshes.

Folks on the other side of it are defending Nike’s politically divisive decision, as well as Kaepernick and other athletes’ rights to peacefully protest.

Mr. Kaepernick always lands at the forefront of this conversation and almost always the public misses the mark on what his intentions were.

It was to bring awareness to racial injustice and inequality in the United States.

No part of Nike’s ad or Colin Kaepernick’s platform in general aims to disrespect or delegitimize a member of the military’s service or sacrifice. Yet this is what is repeatedly scrutinized and obsessed over.

Why are we so focused on whether Colin Kaepernick has sacrificed anything when the real question is what are we doing to fight the systemic oppression of people of color in this country?

Why does the concept of offending our flag — an inanimate object, matter more than the fact that police are shooting unarmed black men at a disturbing rate?

Apparently, protecting ideologies is more important than protecting our people.

But what can we do to ensure that all of our fellow citizens enjoy the same equalities?

These are the questions we should be asking rather than debating Nike’s use of Colin Kaepernick in their advertisement.

Amani Dharani

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