I’m not mad at you Colin Kaepernick, I’m just disappointed.
You have the right to freedom of speech, because my colleagues, friends & loved ones fought and died protecting that right.
You have the right to speak up about what you deem as oppressive, even though you make millions of dollars and, to my knowledge, have not spent any of that money to counteract the oppression you speak of.
You have the right to sit during the National Anthem, even though you can’t seem to realize that to the majority of Americans, it represents only the good, not evil, which exists in our country.
You see, Colin, to some that flag does represent oppression. But it does so just as much as it represents freedom, and the overcoming of said oppression.
That flag represents failure, as well as success, injustice as well as justice, war as well as peace, death as well as life.
That flag represents hundreds of years in what our young country has gone through.
It represents intolerance as much as tolerance, segregation as well as desegregation, division as well as unification, hate as well as love.
That flag represents people of all cultures, races, creeds, and religions, together in one nation as citizens of the United States of America. The majority of us citizens choose to recognize the greatness and potential in which it represents, not the failures in which we’re still fighting to overcome.
I’m okay with you sitting, Colin, but while you sit, I’m going to continue to serve in the military. I’m going to continue to volunteer in underprivileged communities. I’m going to continue being a mentor and big brother to a child from a broken home. I’m going to continue to run a nonprofit for deployed service members. I’m going to continue my legal education so I can one day provide legal services to those “oppressed” and in need of representation. I’m going to continue to make a difference in my community because I recognize that even though our country does in fact have its shortcomings; it would be ignorant and short-sighted to think we could change that simply by sitting.
I’m not saying you have to stand, Colin; you have the right to sit. But with your talent and opportunity to play at the professional level, you’ll probably make a much bigger difference by standing on your feet than by sitting on your ass.
Mr. Thompson is an Army Officer, Law Student, and Founder of Teams For Troops 501(c)3. Views expressed are his own and not that of the Department of Defense. Follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/Jmthompson2017.
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2. As Kaepernick sits during the Nat’l Anthem, this former Bama, 49ers star is serving his country
