Colin Kaepernick chose to not stand up for the National Anthem on Friday for his beliefs over racial oppression in America. Hereās how Twitter handled it.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick elected not to stand up for the national anthem during Fridayās preseason game versus the Green Bay Packers. This was Kaepernickās first preseason game of the season and is quickly losing his chances to win back the starting job from incumbent Blaine Gabbert.
However, it wasnāt Kaepernickās lackluster play on Friday vs. the Packers that had social mediaās attention. It was his decision and later his reasoning behind not standing up for the National Anthem that set the Twitter-verse ablaze with scorching hot takes.
Kaepernick initially told the NFL Networkās Steve Wyche that he decided not to stand up for the national anthem was because he didnāt want to support a countryās flag that oppresses black people and people of color.
The 49ers organization respected his decision to not stand up for the national anthem, but some feel that the NFL might end up levying a suspension on Kaepernick for frankly exercising his First Amendment rights. He wasnāt patriotic in the slightest, but he has the right to freedom of speech as an American citizen.
Itās been a split reaction thus far to Kaepernickās actions stemming from Friday. Some people are supporting his beliefs. Others are angry that he is disrespecting the United States of America. Itās a divisive issue for sure, but he is how Twitter is handling the Kaepernick decision to skip out on the National Anthem and his comments about racial oppression in America.
Needless to say, this is a polarizing political issue enveloped in frankly a polarizing player in Kaepernick.
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Though the 49ers organization and most of the players in the NFL support his decision, San Francisco could be in for a ton of bad publicity surrounding a declining player that isnāt going to win the starting job anymore. There is a growing sense that this is going to be big sports topic for at least the next several days.