We are officially at the point in the football season where we will hear far too much about second string quarterbacks and the gossip that go with them. What we don’t necessarily expect is that it will be their behavior on the sidelines that gets our attention, rather than their play on the field.
As if Colin Kaepernick didn’t have enough going on in his life, fighting for a roster spot on the San Francisco 49ers, he went and brought the limelight upon himself on Saturday night when, during a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers, he refused to stand during the National Anthem. When asked about it after the game, he told reporters that he had no intention of standing in respect for a nation that refuses to show respect to its minority citizens.
What has followed has been a storm of criticism and analysis. Everyone from former teammates and coaches to presidential candidates have weighed in on whether or not Kaepernick was right to use his status as an NFL player to call attention to an issue he deemed pertinent.
When taking a step back from whether or not you agree with Colin Kaepernick, it is important to acknowledge the courage and humanitarian nature of what he is doing. This is a man who is using his influence to try to make changes to the world around him, calling for social justice and for equality. This is something that athletes don’t do nearly often enough. But sports have always served as the cutting edge for some of the world’s greatest social justice campaigns. Jackie Robinson not only broke baseball’s color barrier, but also sparked a national conversation about African Americans participating in American life. Muhammad Ali used his status as a boxer to protest the Vietnam War, a decision that went far beyond the ring. Now, athletes across the sports world are attempting to serve as leaders to fix the racial tensions in our world, and are attempting to use their fame as sports stars to make the world a better place. To look around and see yourself as a member of a much larger society, and to understand that you have the ability to do something to call attention to and hopefully make an impact on the greater community is a worthwhile and powerful step toward making a positive impact.
Kaepernick’s one mistake is that he was quite literally sitting on the sidelines of the discussion. It was his inaction that is causing a scene, his refusal to participate in something that is causing the nation to focus on the issues. He would have been better served going out and DOING something, going out and getting active in making the world a better place. As an NFL football player, he had the opportunity to use his actions to spark MORE action from a multitude of individuals. What happened instead was that his inaction caused people to talk about Colin Kaepernick, rather than the issue of the role of race relations in the United States.
The flag is a symbol, and a vital one to so many who have served this country in a multitude of ways. We can argue for weeks about whether or not you agree with his decision to sit during the National Anthem. But that is exactly his point. He wants us to be arguing, to be discussing, to be rallying together as an American population to decide where we need to go together. He is hoping that his choices will rile up Americans to the point of actually looking at the world around them and demanding that it get a little better. In many ways, it has nothing to do with whether or not Colin Kaepernick stands on the sidelines or sits, and it has everything to do with what you think about next time you hear that National Anthem. His point was to say that the song is supposed to embody freedom and justice, and he won’t stand until the country matches those values. In his eyes, he doesn’t believe it does.
The goal is not for all NFL players to sit during the national anthem. Quite the opposite, in fact. The goal is for all Americans to thoroughly discuss what is essentially important to our nation and be willing to do what we think is right to move us forward in a way that acknowledges our flaws and demands that we work hard to make this country great. We can only hope that America is listening to WHY Kaepernick did what he did, not simply THAT he did it in the first place.
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