On the 26th of August the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers refused to stand for the national anthem in protest and in response to this he has been receiving an unnecessary amount of flack for it.

The response to his Civil Disobedience has been extremely unwarranted. Kaepernick gave a statement saying that he would not stand for a flag that represents a country that oppresses minorities. The people have responded by demeaning Kapernick and using terms that essentially strip him of his humanity which is 1000% not okay I don't care if you agree with him or not what some people have called him is completely uncalled for. What Kaepernick is doing is really just exercising his first amendment right of freedom of speech and expression, what that means is that he has the right to do what he damn pleases in regards to whether or not to stand for the national anthem. The way people are reacting one would think that he said that he hates the United States of America which he did not say he just recognizes some of the injustices that are going on currently in the country.

Some people are stating that by sitting for the national anthem Kaeprnick is disrespecting the flag and by extention the armed forces which I don't believe is true. My understanding of the armed forces is that they are fighting for our right to have the choice on whether or not to stand for the national anthem or to sit. The great thing about America is that we have the freedom to actually choose what we want to do in these situations unlike in countries like North Korea where if he had sat down he would be executed directly afterward because in those countries the constituents don't have the freedom to choose what they want to do in many situations.

Now at the same time I believe that both parties are completely ignoring the opportunity to have constructive conversation on how both sides feel about this situation. For example those who disagree with Kaepernicks stance on the idea of minority oppression could instead of dehumanizing him and telling him that if he hates the country so much that he should leave to instead approach him and ask what exactly he means by minority oppression. On the flip side Kaepernick could have held a press conference or done a livestream of something during which time he would be answering questions and concerns about his recent show of civil disobedience in not standing for the national anthem where both sides could at least attempt to bridge the gap between the two sides.

That approach in my opinion would definitely help in helping others understand where each other is coming from and could be a little more constructive then the insults and degrading that is going on.