National Anthem Protest: How We Can Have the Conversation Kaepernick Intended
Whether you’ve seen the man in a Nike advertisement, trending on twitter, or on the news channel, Colin Kaepernick is a name well known by most people around our country. Not because of how many yards he threw or how many passing touchdowns he had, but because of the courageous and polarizing protest he started, which took the nation by storm. In April of 2017 Kaepernick started a peaceful protest in which he and eventually other players of the NFL kneeled during the national anthem to protest racial inequality, specifically police brutality. His intention was to get our country’s attention about the oppression of minorities and also to spark a national conversation about it. Now, I’m sure that most reading this right now are probably thinking about their own opinion on the protest. I’m also sure that they have it set in stone that their opinion is correct. Our country has talked and talked about the matter for almost two years, yet it has never been the conversation that Kaepernick intended. It hasn’t been a conversation at all. Neither side of the conversation will listen because neither side is willing to receive any pushback. Instead, each side of the argument continuously and simultaneously spits their opinions onto the faces of the opposing side. This is just one reason why our country has been so split over the matter. There are two keys to having begin having the conversation intended.
- We listen to each other
- We quit talking about the protest itself or the means by which the protest was carried out, and begin having the conversation about the content of the protest.
So in order to have the conversation the protest was actually about, both sides need to begin to listen to each other. People who believe that the protest is disrespectful may need to have an open mind and ears to someone with a different experience of being treated in this country than them before immediately disregarding the means of the protest. On the contrary, people who support the protest fully may need to listen to their opposers about how we can steer the conversation away from the flag or the song if that is what’s important to them. No matter what we must listen to each other in order to find a middle ground on the matter, where nationalists can be pleased, but also people can all be treated equally. But again, in order to find the middle place of compromise, we must learn to listen to each other.
As a nation, we have been unable to have this conversation not only because we don’t listen, but also because we aren’t talking about the same thing. When it comes to having an opinion on the protest you are either on the left side or the right side, with a very scarce middle. Most either agree with Kaepernick and his motives or view him as disrespectful towards our flag and country. Those who view him as disrespectful usually only argue about the matter of the flag, all the while avoiding the conversation about the true intention of the protest; the oppression of minorities in the United States. So before we can begin a conversation, let’s address the question; Is Colin Kaepernick disrespecting the flag, the country, or veterans by kneeling during the national anthem?
Now it’s important to clarify that when the protest began, Kaepernick sat for the national anthem, he didn’t kneel. Then after being called disrespectful by the general public, he received the feedback and reached out to the veteran community. He met with Nate Boyer, a former Green Beret (who also had a brief NFL career) and discussed with him how to make the protest more respectful. The verdict was that sitting was considered disrespectful. Period. However, since his intentions didn’t regard the flag or the military whatsoever, Kaepernick was told that it was not disrespectful for him to kneel during the anthem. Many veterans nationwide agreed with this and after the switch was made, even started a hashtag, #VeteransforKaepernick. In fact Kaepernick even said that he was partially protesting for veterans that were being treated unfairly as well. When meeting with the media he says, “I’ve seen circumstances where men and women that have been in the military have come back and been treated unjustly by the country they fought have for, and have been murdered by the country they fought for, on our land. That’s not right.” Even veterans that don’t agree with his views agree with his protest because it validates the freedom of speech that they fought for.
Now that we’ve clarified that this protest is not perceived by veterans as disrespectful, many people view the protest as being disloyal to the country that Kaepernick was born into. However what does being loyal to a country even mean? Is it being loyal to a flag? A song? Or is it being loyal to the human beings that actually make up the country? In fact, most would agree that by giving the people of this country a voice he is doing the country a service and trying to invoke positive change. The intention was never to discredit our country, but to improve it and to make it a place of equal opportunity and treatment for all its citizens.
In fact the conversation that Kaepernick is trying to invoke, is not one about the national anthem or the flag, it’s about the treatment of minorities in this country. (Especially with the police brutality cases that were going on during the time he started the protest.) He chooses to display this through the national anthem protest because he feels that if the country is not equally treating all its citizens, then what is there to celebrate about that flag? When interviewed Kaepernick says, “I’m not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color… To me, this is bigger than football and it would be extremely selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
So maybe now that we’ve gotten the issue of respect out of the way, we can begin to have a conversation, not about the flag or the national anthem, but about how our country and society oppresses people of color. The fact that we can’t even engage in the conversation that Kaepernick tried to start even says something about our society. We refuse to listen. We refuse to hear anyone opinion different from our own. We refuse to see the perspective of anyone else. We have avoided this conversation by debating over a flag or a song, as if these things were a problem. So maybe if we all swallow our pride, and listen to the other side, we can begin to have an actual conversation.
