Dear Colin Kaepernick,

Frist of all, I would like to thank you for what you did. Even though all you did was take a seat, the effects and message behind what you did speaks louder than any national anthem could speak. It takes a lot to stand up to an institution the way that you did. I guess I’m writing this letter to let you know that I, among many others are behind you and the message that you are trying to send to the rest of America. The hypocritical and horrid things being said your way are just the public trying to distract themselves and the rest of the country from what you were trying to say. Instead of seeing you as a man using his platform to speak on one of the greatest injustices that our country is seeing today, they attempt to paint you as a ungrateful, spiteful and hateful man. They do this because they recognize what you are saying is true: that this country isn’t respecting the lives of people of color, and they are attempting to get rid of their guilt by putting you out as the bad guy.

Arguments against how black you are are troubling. Why is it that because of your skin complexion do people think that you cannot stand up for the plight of people of color in this country? Even if there wasn’t one ounce of African-American in you, why isn’t it acceptable to stand up for the horrors going on? Why do people think that the monetary compensation you are getting for doing your job should equate to you being silent on a matter like this? People of color both rich and poor, light and dark have the ability and the responsibility to speak out when our peoples are getting slaughtered.

They say that by sitting down during the anthem that you are disrespecting the veterans who have fought and died for this country, that those people who fought and died gave you the freedoms that you have today. What they fail to realize is that one of those freedoms, the right to free speech, can be used to speak out against a nation that is systematically oppressing people of color. It is almost sickening how we, people of color, are expected to respect and honor a flag and song, when we as human beings are not being respected with our lives.

I beg you not to let these people who speak against you get to you. Do not let them shake you from your firm place in the ground. Stand tall knowing that you’ve got many people behind you supporting you. We appreciate you using your platform to speak up because so many of us do not have that opportunity.

Thank you,

Matthew Alexander