Not standing for national anthem

[tantricia44]

His reasons for not standing up are totally not right due to the fact that you stand to give thanks to those Americans that sacrificed their lives for your freedoms! The reason why he can dare to not stand is the fact that someone went out there & risk their life to protect us & that freedom! If this ungrateful *bleep* did that in another part of the world he'd be executed on the spot, no questions asked! In other countries you can be jailed for just looking at someone important funny! It just makes my blood boil this moron doesn't even know the reason for what  standing up for the American anthem means! The fact that he's African American just makes his race look uneducated & stupid! If you don't want to stand up &  honor the American anthem then you don't have right to use those freedoms here! Please leave this country now!

[thoughtparticles]

It is disrespectful but what about those who go to a game that can't stand? Can't really hold them the same regard or someone who can bearly stand. Some things are just to petty to just go on about and if he stands or not its really his decision. You can't make someone do what they don't want to because if you do then there the victim because your forcing your will on them which isnt right

Using people who can't stand as an example is flawed logic. Someone who is confined to a wheelchair may, and most likely would, WANT to stand for the anthem but are physically incapable. This piece of work didn't/doesn't stand out of (at best) misguided disrespect.

As for someone being a "victim"... please... 

Personally, I feel he's getting exactly what he wanted by doing this... (far too much) publicity, press, airtime, hatred... attention. I'm sure he's sitting at home smiling at his accomplishment.

[camellia0]

I think he should have, but with so many different peoples in the US, with different beliefs, we honestly can't expect someone to change.

[paints]

Jackie Robinson, military veteran and sportsman:
“I cannot stand and sing the anthem, I cannot salute the flag. I know I am a black man in a white world in 1972 and 1947, at my birth in 1919, I know that I never had it made.”

Colin Kaepernick:
“I have great respect for the men and women that have fought for this country. I have family, I have friends that have gone and fought for this country."
This country isn’t holding up their end of the bargain… men and women that have been in the military have come back and been treated unjustly, and have been murdered by the country they fought for, on our land. That’s not right.”

“There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

He's right.  You only have to look around to see it.

[ghunter]

I agree with amyDAST, a lot of people do not said the pledge of allegiance to the Flag for some reason or another, religion or otherwise, so not standing for the national anthem is why this country is the land of the free and he did not get rich standing for the national anthem, he goes out there on the football field and can get seriously hurt to earn his money.

[lvstephanie]

It is a lazy, worthless protest for someone like Kaepernick not to stand for the anthem. It takes no effort to not stand. He isn't sacrificing anything except possibly his career, although some have speculated that this may actually help solidify his spot on the 49er's since were the team to let him go, there'd probably be considerable push-back, basing his release from the team as stemming from this display (whether or not this is true). No, the US is not perfect, but it is by far the best country for anyone (even minorities) to get ahead in life; in fact a majority of the countries in the world make certain minorities illegal (and, for example, may outright kill you for being a minority like a member of the LGBT community). And given his name recognition and wealth, there are other things that he could have done to truly help the plight of minorities in this country.

When Jackie Robinson chose not to stand, he was already a civil right's icon. His mere presence in the major league of baseball was a stand against the oppression that he felt. He lived during a time when racial strife was so much worse than today. Part of the racism that the black community were fighting during that time was the systemic racism of the Jim Crow laws. Not only were these terrible for their racism, but what made them worse was that it was actual legislation that minorities were fighting. Businesses were forced by law to segregate, whether or not the owner of that business felt that that segregation was wrong. People needed to resort to civil disobedience in order to get their voices heard. And if / when they were jailed because they dared to go against an unjust law, they gladly accepted it as being like a martyr dying for their cause.

I don't deny his right to refuse to stand for the national anthem. I don't think that he should have to leave the country or have to pay a fine (even one imposed by the NFL / 49er's). I just think that he could have done so much more if he truly wanted to do something for the minority community. For example, heed the call from police chiefs throughout the country that say that the best way to reduce individual racism among the police is to actively recruit more minorities into the force; although he may not have given up playing football to become a policeman (unlike another football player that did give up his NFL career in order to do what he claimed was his moral duty -- and in the end, Pat Tillman died for that decision to enroll in the Army after 9/11 attacks), he could have certainly started a trust to provide scholarships to minorities wanting to work in law enforcement.

[paints]

Until we hold police accountable for the people they kill for no reason, other than the color of their skin, all the flag-waving patriotism means nothing.

[hawkeye3210]

Deaths per 100,000 Arrests
Whites- 4.76
Blacks- 4.92

This is what the argument is about? A 0.00016% difference? It isn't about race.

[aflyingmonkey]

If he wants to see actual change, he should put his millions into programs that foster change.   Just sitting around is about effective as wearing a cancer wristband to raise awareness; we are aware, now what.   Next month it will be on to the next thing, and nothing will have changed. 

IMHO, he could send underprivileged kids to college, like Snoop Dogg is doing....  to fight the system you have to get in to the system and change it.    He could also fund lobbyist to promote political change right now, this is how corporations get the politicians rule in their favor.  Money talks.

In Fullerton California, cops killed a mentally ill homeless man, Caucasian, by beating him to death, broke every bone in his face... for no just cause.   He was calling for his father as he was being beaten, his father was a police officer.  The cops were acquitted.   I don't think it is just a racial issue, it is an out of control issue by police & the power they possess. Police seem to forget that they are public servants, meant to serve the public, not Gestapo.   More and more police departments are requiring body cams, so hopefully with more transparency and more cameras, there will be more accountability. 

[vp44]

I have no opinion of what what's going through this persons mind.

[vg7405]

I can understand why some people may see it as a sign of disrespect; I am one of the few, however, who do not believe so. Burning the American flag, however, is more extreme and disrespectful.

[gaby_ro_2004]

If this is how he feels....but it is wrong!!!!

[Tresbn00]

I am not on board with Kaepernick's decision. I look at many of the instances of perceived inequalities and find that there was justification in the action taken. If an individual is heading in the direction of a police officer and has a lethal weapon, is asked to stop/put down the weapon, does not comply, there is justification for the police officer to protect themselves. Because of the heightened media attention to issues involving people with differences in skin color this all gets blown out of proportion. I think that Kaepernick's decision is disrespectful to a country that has given him opportunities not to be found anywhere else...the same opportunities that we, as Americans, are all afforded. His stance would cost him his life in a large percentage of countries (Russia, North Korea, China to name a few). No where else in this world could a now-average football player make more in one year than any ten of us could make in a lifetime aggregate. I believe that athletes, actors and musicians should stick with their art and not use their prowess to change public opinion without full understanding their stance.

[michele2042]

I believe everyone has the right to feel the way they feel.  There is no law requiring everyone to stand during the playing of the anthem.   Not that big of a deal to me.  I have read where there are many vets who are supporting his right not to stand, that is what they fought for.

[6265AT99]

Anyone who has prospered in AMERICA should stand for the national anthem with no question cause if they don't love America they should just leave!