#TakeAKnee: Colin Kaepernick Is An American Patriot

Reggie Shuford
Aug 29, 2017 · 2 min read

Rather than unpatriotic, Colin Kaepernick’s protest is the height of patriotism. By refusing to stand for the national anthem, he is exercising the very liberty and freedom enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and symbols like the American flag, values upon which this country was founded and for which we fought the Revolutionary War. Requiring everyone to engage in certain rituals and express unconditional fealty to American icons and symbols is the antithesis of liberty and freedom. That’s an autocracy or dictatorship.

Fortunately, many of our soldiers, the ones fighting daily to spread our democratic ideals all over the world, and other Americans understand that it is the values underneath the symbols, not the symbols themselves, that matter most. They understand that the protest by Kaepernick and others is not about veterans, the military or the flag. The protest is about shining a light on police brutality against Black people, social injustice and longstanding hypocrisy when it comes to race. It is about the emptiness of symbolism compared to reality, and is asking this country to live up to its founding principles.

Throughout history, Black protests have never been popular or “convenient” to mainstream Americans.

Loyalty oaths were outlawed decades ago. Yet, Black people and people of color are always required to prove our patriotism, unconditional loyalty, and commitment to America, as if we should be grateful for just being invited to the party irrespective of how we are treated while there. Our citizenship is tenuous at best and always on the verge of being revoked. One “false” move is all it takes.

Update: Nike seems to understand what Kaepernick’s protest is all about, too. The company recently made him, along with a fellow athletes Serena Williams and Lebron James, the face of its “Just Do It” Thirtieth Anniversary Campaign. Maybe the campaign will inspire others to make an effort to also understand, rather than respond reflexively without careful thought, dismiss the legitimate reasons for the protest, and perpetuate the false narrative that it is about disrespecting veterans, the military, and the flag.

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