Too Weak To Stand | The Odyssey Online
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Too Weak To Stand

Colin Kaepernick's refusal to stand shows his true colors.

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Too Weak To Stand
USA Today

Oh, Mr. Kaepernick, what are we gonna do with you? You have single-handedly infuriated vast majority of football fans, players, coaches and veterans all in one. If there are some groups of people that you don't want to be on their bad side with, it's those that are willing to die for you, some of the strongest and toughest men alive and the fans and coaches watching your every move. Jokes aside, what you have done by sitting for the national anthem and then trying to make it better by kneeling the next game is not exactly noble. Here's why.

You fully have the right to do whatever you want. The First Amendment seals your right to act as you please. That is not my problem with this, because it is not the action that is so infuriating to me, but rather the meaning behind it. You have the right to say what you want about how oppressed you think people of color are in this country, but I also have the right to scoff at what you say because you are disrespectful, arrogant, hypocritical and above all unbelievably weak and soft.

You are disrespectful because you are sitting for a song that honors men and women that can only sit for the rest of their lives because they lost their ability to walk giving you your change to play a game for millions of dollars. Yes, that means people who have lost limbs and are otherwise permanently changed because of their courage. You also are sitting down while those that pay your salary stand up and honor those who you refuse to. People are paying money to watch a burnout quarterback like you throw a couple interceptions and sit down for our National Anthem. What a joke. You see there are plenty of things I hate about this country. Millions of children have been aborted, I pay nearly a quarter of what I make to the government to make terrible decisions about how I should live my life, we are in an irreversible cycle of debt; the list goes on and on. I still stand and respect that flag because this is the only country on earth I would be able to do all of the great things I do in my life. Men and women of all races have died for you and me do keep that song playing on this soil. Get up and act like it.

You are arrogant because you feel that this will cause change. "Wow an NFL Quarterback wants change. He's such a good person. Let's listen to him." You know what would make me actually believe you? Donate half of that $100 million of yours to the victims of wrongful deaths. Put some of those young men that you say are oppressed through college. Actually do something to make change. To sit and claim to be a voice or face of action, without doing anything is just selfish.

You are hypocritical for the same reasons I just mentioned. You are not oppressed, and you have the chance to change whatever you think is wrong. All you are doing is disrespecting those who have sacrificed. To be able to speak, you must sacrifice.

You are soft. Once you have taken the dumb stance you have, stand by it at least. Kneeling to "show respect for veterans" but not for the US as a whole is a cop out because you can't support what you say. If you feel strong enough to sit for your cause, have the balls to do it again and accept what people like me think about you. At least we would respect your passion, but you even lack that.

Finally, I will say this. If you see problems, address them correctly. Maybe you should be a role model of how to act to not be "oppressed". You have never been one day in your life, so relish in it and help others. Do not sit down and dishonor those who have built the platform for you to be able to sit in the first place.

You have the right to your action, but you must face the consequences of said action. Maybe you should think about how you can change our country for the better, rather than wanting it to change for you. Somebody said that once... Oh, Yes. JFK; one of the men that died for you.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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