The United States prides itself on being a country of freedom, whether that means having the ability to practice whatever religion (or none at all) you wish or standing up for what you believe in without worrying about arrest. Or at least, that’s how we’d like it to be. When you take off the rose-coloured glasses, suddenly this country seems a whole lot less accepting.
Whenever a sports player engages in a scandal, no matter the size, the main outrage is over how they failed in their responsibility as role models to the next generation; however, when Colin Kaepernick, a reserve quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, decided to support the Black Lives Matter movement by refusing to stand during the national anthem, in essence becoming a role model for young African Americans, he faced the scorn of the nation.
Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
As a person of mixed race, Kaepernick decided to make a silent personal demonstration against racial injustice and police brutality. When asked why he began his protest, Kaepernick said “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. 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.”
From kneeling during the national anthem in front of 20 million people watching the opening game live, his actions have sparked a number of other protests. Two other 49ers, Antoine Bethea and Eli Harold raised Black power salutes, along with two members of the LA Rams, Robert Quinn and Kenny Britt. More recently, the entire Indiana Fever Team knelt during the anthem before a W.N.B.A playoff game.
In a society where the Westboro Baptist Church can legally picket the funerals of U.S. military, Kaepernick and those he inspired should be admired, even if you do not agree with his message. A true role model is someone who is not afraid to stand up against what he or she perceives as injustice. And as for the argument that he is insulting the U.S. military, many active service members applaud Kaepernick for using the rights they fight so hard to protect.
This instance is not the only case of a double standard when it comes to who can enjoy American freedom. Trump, to the joy of his supporters, wanted to ban all Muslims from entering the country and create a database of all Muslims currently living in the U.S., which ignores all notions of religious freedom. Yet when a gay couple wishes to marry, suddenly religious freedom is the foundation on which the U.S. was built upon. As Jordan Klepper of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah shows, many people don’t actually realize the hypocrisy they are spouting.
It can sometimes be hard to see when one is being a hypocrite and setting a double standard for a particular group of people; however, the idea of American tolerance and freedom is more important now than ever in this world increasingly being reigned by fear. Each of us should engage in a little introspection of our own values and how we express them in our community.