On Sunday, Colin Kaepernick failed to stand for the national anthem. As expected, there’s a huge divide between those who support him and those who don’t. Kaepernick’s reasoning for not standing for the United States’ anthem was that “people of color and other minorities aren’t respected and treated like have complete freedom.” Though I do understand his sentiment completely, I have decided that I’ll still stand when the Star Spangled Banner plays.

The reality is that this country was and still is constantly dealing with inequalities from the time Columbus “discovered” the Americas all the way up to President Obama’s final months in the White House. Don’t get me wrong, America has seen change for the better. It’s still a far cry of where we need (and sometimes think) we should be. Women are still fighting to be paid equally as men are. African Americans are still fighting to be completely treated like they matter. The LGBT community is still fighting to be treated equally as their heterosexual counterparts. The working and middle class are fighting for better tax wages that won’t put their families in a bind.

In my opinion, there has always been an ideal of what liberty and justice for all meant but it is rarely applied to the “all”. Human beings have a tendency to exclude anyone or anything that they don’t understand or feel “superior” to. In my textbook for History, there is an excerpt from a Spanish traveler during the voyage of Columbus. He described the natives as ignorant and overly trusting because they willingly gave them gifts and resources like gold and other metals. Because the traveler didn’t understand the culture of the natives, he assumed their worth based on their lifestyle.

Unfortunately, this is still true today to a certain extent.

Now while I respect Kaepernick’s decision not to acknowledge the Star Spangled Banner by standing, I do have to point out that regardless of this country’s heinous past (and to be frank, present) that the United States is still a wonderful place to live. It’s my country and no matter what other people do or say to me that’s contrary to what we’re supposedly “Founded” on, I’ll always be an American. No racist, sexist, or bigot can change my nationality. While sometimes I’m straight up ashamed of how far gone our government and policies are, I remember that there are people like Simone Biles or Michelle Carter proudly representing the U.S. with something positive. This country isn’t great because of who runs it. This country is great because I choose to make it that way.