By: Eman McNeal
In August of 2016, Colin Kaepernick started a controversy when he remained sitting on the bench, while the national anthem played during a preseason game. He did this as a protest against the oppression of African Americans and the police brutality taking place in the US. In an interview, Kaepernick stated, “I’m going to continue to stand with the people that are being oppressed, to me, this is something that has to change. When there’s significant change and I feel that flag represents what it’s supposed to represent, and this country is representing people the way that it’s supposed to, I’ll stand.” I strongly support his statement and the actions he has taken to ‘stand’ behind it. The inequality, police brutality and oppression is not a new topic to African Americans in the US. In fact, almost everyone has done their best to ignore it, so of course, it makes a statement when it’s brought to everyone’s attention in a different light. This was not the beginning or the end. African Americans have been mistreated for decades and generations before our time. The reason this particular notion upset people so much is because Colin Kaepernick is a celebrity, someone that everybody sees. You can’t exactly ignore a protest on national tv. People assume that when you are rich and famous that the problems in the world don’t affect you as much. Being rich or famous does not change your skin color or where you come from, and it certainly does not stop people from throwing racial slurs and comments at you every chance they get. This is the reality, and the louder the black community speaks, the more our voices will be heard.
