In August of 2016 Colin Kaepernick took a stand when he chose to kneel for the national anthem, aka “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
The San Francisco 49ers quarterback refused to stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner” before a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers on Friday because, he said, “There are bodies in the street.”
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses [B]lack people and people of color,” Kaepernick told NFL Media in an exclusive interview after the game … “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
The Washington Post
Over the last few years a number of athletes, mostly of color, have followed suit. Colin was effectively banned from the NFL because of his stand, and others have been booed, threatened, and more. A former Vice President, at the direction of his boss, famously left an NFL game because players took a knee during the anthem.
It’s always bothered me how people reacted to this silent and peaceful protest. These athletes never said they hated America. They never said they hated the flag or our military. They said they hated the brutality against Black people and other people of color. They said the killings needed to stop. But people lost their minds. They said they were disrespecting our veterans - despite many veterans and veterans’ organizations saying they believed they had the right to protest and felt no disrespect from them whatsoever. They said they were disrespecting the flag, but that wasn’t it at all. There is language in the U.S. Code regarding the national anthem and the flag (see below) but let’s be honest, very few were following this to the letter of the law before Colin began protesting and no one was losing their mind too badly over it. Kneeling while the anthem was being played should not have been/be a big deal.
36 U.S. Code § 301 - National Anthem
(a)Designation.—The composition consisting of the words and music known as the Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem.
(b)Conduct During Playing.—During a rendition of the national anthem—
(1)when the flag is displayed—
(A)individuals in uniform should give the military salute at the first note of the anthem and maintain that position until the last note;
(B)members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are present but not in uniform may render the military salute in the manner provided for individuals in uniform; and
(C)all other persons present should face the flag and stand at attention with their right hand over the heart, and men not in uniform, if applicable, should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart; and
(2)when the flag is not displayed, all present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed.
But of course it was a big deal because he is Black and a lot of white Americans didn’t (and still don’t) like him for that fact alone.
A year or so after he began his protest I went to a pre-season Golden State Warriors game with a colleague who is Black. When I stood for the anthem she chose to sit and it didn’t bother me one bit. I fully respected her decision, and I’ve thought about it a lot since that day. I’ve often wondered if I should I have sat with her in support. She was fine with me standing, just as I was fine with her sitting, but recently I’ve decided that for me, it’s no longer fine to go along with the norm on this.
After the brutal murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020 I’ve been thinking about a lot of things and doing what I can to educate myself and be better, to take a stand when necessary, to speak out, to call out racism when I see it.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve sung the national anthem before sporting events. It’s something I’ve loved doing for many years and hoped to one day do at a Sharks game. I’ve walked through the Star-Spangled Banner exhibit in the Smithsonian and cried at its beauty. I’ve always been that person that sings along when the anthem is sung or played. I’ve stood and put my hand over my heart and given dirty looks to people not paying attention.
The national anthem, I always thought, was supposed to be a solemn few moments, a time to think about how lucky we are to live in this country, to rejoice in the bravery of our heroes and the freedoms we all enjoy. But that’s the problem right there. Not everyone enjoys the same freedoms as I, a white person, do.
When you start looking at the history of the song, and that of its author, it’s hard to imagine that he meant both white people and the enslaved Black people when he penned “the land of the free”. And I’m sure he wasn’t thinking at all of the Native people whose stolen land he was sitting on.
Francis Scott Key, the author of the poem whose first verse became the national anthem, was in fact a slaveholder from an old Maryland plantation family, and as a U.S. attorney argued several prominent cases against the abolitionist movement. He did speak out against the cruelties of the institution of slavery, but did not see abolition as the solution.
Instead, Key became a leader of the colonization movement, which advocated the relocation of black slaves to Africa and eventually resulted in the modern nation of Liberia.
History.com
So now I too will choose a silent protest over the tradition of standing for the national anthem. I will politely decline if asked to sing before a game. I want people to ask me why. I want to make sure they know exactly where I stand; that Black Lives Matter, that the killing must be stopped, and that the systemic racism that inhabits every corner of this country must be addressed and eradicated.
At the last pre-season Sharks game Saturday night I sat quietly during the anthem and prayed for an end to the violence, for an end to the hatred, for peace and equality across this country. I clapped when the singer finished because she did a fine job, and then I focused on the game. The people next to me stood, as did most of the others in the arena, and that was completely fine. If they noticed me at all I doubt they thought much of it. For me, it was the right thing to do.
Please understand that in no way am I saying you shouldn’t stand and sing along with the anthem if you desire to do so. I respect whatever you choose to do just as I’m hoping you’ll respect my choice. This is, after all, America, where freedom is supposed to be our thing.
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Colin Kaepernick, right, and Eric Reid of the San Francisco 49ers kneel in protest during the National Anthem before playing the Los Angeles Rams on September 12, 2016.