On Aug. 26, 2016, Colin Kaepernick took a stance when he refused to stand for the national anthem, leaving the people of America divided into states of confusion, disgust or approval. Allow me to make my stance clear and understood. I stand with Colin Kaepernick. As a woman of color, I have every right to be disappointed with the state of the nation, the crooked system of justice that was created to benefit only cisgender heterosexual able-bodied wealthy white men and social injustices in general. I stand with Colin Kaepernick because his bravery inspired people all over the country to stand up for what they believe in and I can’t think of many things better than that. I stand with Colin Kaepernick because even though he is a well-known NFL player, he is still a black man. He is still a target and he is well aware of what that means for him. I stand with Colin Kaepernick because he has thousands of fans that only wish to see him throw a ball around but he saw an opportunity to peacefully protest and he ran with it. I stand with Colin Kaepernick because he was willing to put his career on the line for what he believed in and after paying attention to most of his colleagues and what they had to say regarding his sitting during the national anthem, not many of them can relate.
Allow me to address the mostly conservative group of people in America that have deemed Kaepernick’s protest as disrespectful: you’re white. Never in your life have you or will you experience any type of racial discrimination. If you still don’t understand, here’s a little history lesson. Racism was created by white people, the oppressors. It can only be destroyed by white people, the oppressors. I’m talking to those of you who are still blaming our BLACK president for the racism still present in America (*cough, cough,* Tomi Lahren). Well, you have your answer. If you want to see racism disappear, you’re the one that has to make it happen. Until then, my black brothers and sisters will continue sitting during the national anthem, a song that was forced upon us as early as preschool, that was created to celebrate a country that has oppressed us for hundreds of years.
We’re not creating spaces for white people to feel comfortable about addressing the obvious racism that is present in this country anymore. Face it and embrace it. Tomi Lahren, possibly the most annoying woman to listen to after any sort of racial protest takes place, has, of course, given her two cents on the situation and let me tell you, it’s cringe-worthy. Here she is, once again, with her unneeded final thoughts. I could debunk the comments made by Lahren “sentence by sentence,” but we’d be here all day. Anyway, there’s no need because as long as my people are being senselessly shot and killed by police, minority groups are still facing discrimination and people of color overall are experiencing any kind of injustice, America is doing it wrong. With that being said, Colin Kaepernick, you’ve just gained another fan.