President Obama delivers support for Colin Kaepernick
By Mark Gunnels
President Barack Obama decided to reiterate his support of San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
The fall is officially here, which means football is back in the swing of things, but this season isn’t like any other in recent memory.
As police brutality continues to be an issue in our country, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to take a stand, or sit if you want to be technical. Instead of standing with his right hand over his heart during the national anthem, Kaepernick is kneeling in protest due to the ongoing killings of African-American men at the hands of law enforcement.
Since Kaepernick decided to kneel, he’s received ample backlash. However, other NFL players such as Antonio Cromartie, Brandon Marshall and etc have kneeled during the anthem as well.
Earlier this month, President Barack Obama expressed his support for Kaepernick, but at CNN’s Town Hall recently, he went more in-depth on his thoughts.
"“I believe that us honoring our flag and our anthem is part of what binds us together as a nation. And I think that for me, for my family, for those who work in the White House, we recognize what it means to us, but also what it means to the men and women who are fighting on our behalf. But I’m also always trying to remind folks that part of what makes this country special is that we respect people’s rights to have a different opinion and to make different decisions about how they want to express their concerns. And the test of our fidelity to our Constitution, to freedom of speech, to our Bill of Rights is not when it’s easy, but when it’s hard. We fight sometimes so that people can do things that we disagree with, but that’s what freedom means in this country.“And so, my hope would be that as this debate surfaces, we’re always reminding ourselves that in a democracy like ours, there are gonna be a lot of folks who do stuff that we just don’t agree with. But as long as they’re doing it within the law, then we can voice our opinion objecting to it, but it’s also their right."
President Obama hit it right on the head.
Individuals are upset about Kaepernick’s protest because they feel he’s disrespecting those who have died for the freedom of this country, but in that same breathe, he’s able to kneel during the national anthem because of that very freedom, right?