Recently, professional football fields have become more than a place for the game, but for political debate. Colin Kaepernick, an ex-player for the San Francisco 49ers, started kneeling for the National Anthem during the 2016 NFL preseason in August, going mostly unnoticed. However, in the last few weeks, he has begun to gain a lot more attention and has sparked national discussions and debates over what this is all about.  

Kaepernick said to the Washington Post, “I am 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 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.”

While this statement may anger some, it sends shivers down the spines of many people who have lost friends and family to police brutality and blatant racism. Since the 2017 NFL season has begun, more than 200 football players have protested the racial inequality by opting to kneel, sit, link arms, hold hands, raise a fist or stay in the locker room during the National Anthem. Athletes from other sports and even high school teams have also chosen to kneel during the anthem to protest the current issues.  

One of the biggest arguments of this debate is standing on the platform that kneeling during the anthem is extremely disrespectful towards those who have fought for our country. However, there have been a huge amount of veterans who have come out and said that they did not volunteer to fight and risk their lives so that everyone would be forced to stand for the anthem. They fought to give us freedom of expression and free speech, in whatever form that may come in. Those who have never served in the army but continue to use those who have, as an argument for their stance, are not only disrespecting veterans but are forgetting what morals our country stands on.

While NFL players are using their platform to bring attention to current issues, it shouldn’t stop there. It’s great to address the problem, but we can not forget the next step, fixing it. What we need is a push for everyone to change their attitude. If the problem is police brutality, we should be pressuring our prosecutors to punish officers when an innocent life is taken, instead of giving them paid leave. If a problem is brought up, it needs to be faced and taken down- not just named.

No matter where you stand on this issue, whether you support the NFL’s players choice to protest or not, there is an undeniable issue facing African Americans in today’s society that is hard to ignore. Maybe the players choice to kneel during the anthem was offensive to some, and could have been handled differently, but nevertheless, it is a subject that needs to be addressed and fixed. It’s time to open our eyes and start understanding where we stand as a country today and furthermore, what you stand for and support.