Analysis Of Colin Kaepernick's Speech

Amongst the start of the 2016 NFL season, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to make a political statement by kneeling during the playing of the national anthem because he’s “not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color” (Wyche, 2016). This has generated a countrywide debate regarding Kaepernick’s manner of activism. Many individuals view Kaepernick and his chosen method in order to create change as incredibly disrespectful to the United States and the ideals in which she upholds. While there is a significant number of people who would agree, others come to the defense of Kaepernick and believe that he is simply exercising his constitutional right while bringing

It is easy to understand that people who served in the military or have any close connections to the military may have found Kaepernick’s actions to be extremely disrespectful, but at the same time, I do think his criticisms have been blown out of proportion. Nationalism, defined as the love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it, is enhanced by the two biggest symbols of our modern nation, our military and athletes. Both the military and our athletes, especially those who represent our country in events such as the Olympics, act as embodiments of our nation as they both put their bodies on the line to serve our nation (Beissel, 2016). Colin Kaepernick and his political statement serve as a symbol that represents our country as a whole and its imperfections. His intentions were not to show any disrespect to our military, rather by recognizing that he is such a prolific symbol that represents our country as a whole, he decided to kneel during the national anthem in order to create change. In an interview with the NFL Media, Kaepernick said, “To me, this is bigger than football and

Resulting from a cycle of racially discriminatory spatial segregation, a lot of African American people moved to urban places, also known as ghettoization (Beissel, 2016). This has led to an increase in poverty and crime rates which has put the African American community in bad light. The U.S. Sentencing Commission reported that black people receive 10% longer sentences than whites through the federal system for the same crimes. Brock Turner (White), a former Stanford University swimmer, raped an intoxicated and unconscious woman behind a dumpster and received 6 months in prison. In comparison, Cory Batey (Black), a former Vanderbilt University football player, raped an intoxicated women and will be facing 15-25 years in prison (Armour, 2016). As a result of these staggering statistics, nobody could possibly blame Kaepernick for taking a stand against this issue. People could criticize him in that he could have done it in a different way, but Kaepernick’s goal was to raise awareness about this issue alone, in which he succeeded. Our society frequently divides itself based on racial differences opposed to cultural/ethnic differences. But according to Yale University geneticist, Kenneth K. Kidd, “Race is an artificial construct that cannot be defined by any existing biological data” (Beissel, 2016). Because all humans are genetically the