I think people are missing the point. Everyone's focus on the anthem. It's not about that. You ask any black person in this country and they will say, "they love America more than America loves them." Kaepernick is using the anthem to bring to light about police brutality. Sometimes you have to shock people in order to get them to respond. The hardest thing for most white people this country is to understand something when you're never experienced it. You see the world differently. Most of my rights in this country are courtesy of an act by Congress. And every few decades these acts have to be review and renewed. It's not a god-given right like a lot of people in this country.
Btw, the third verse in the national anthem is directed towards blacks helping England and how they need to be dealt with. As blacks in this country we don't hold that against America yet when one voices opinion outside the general consensus he or she is considered ungrateful. As you can see I am angry. I've kept quiet on this because this is not the place for it, but if you continue to belittle Kaepernick you belittling all blacks and I feel insulted. I like most blacks love this country and 99% of people that are in it. It's the one percent that makes it difficult to handle day in and day out. It's the sheriff in Arizona and the police officer in Georgia who made the statement "we only shoot blacks." Those are the people we dislike and they need to be addressed because they're in a position of power to affect everyone's lives. Police brutality/harassment is part of why I left Colorado to come the Rutgers. I suggest some of you watch ESPN''s 30 for 30 "The Gospel According to Mac." That'll help you understand what was going on out there. University of Colorado hat 27,000 students and less than 250 blacks enrolled. Some people felt it was their right to insult us because they felt comfortable and they were in a dominant position. I grew up in Hackensack which is a mixed town. I was never exposed to hatred on this level.
The first day I moved into my dorms as a freshman at Colorado two police officers showed up at my room. They claim to be there to get to know you. My roommate Brent Branch, the son of Cliff Branch, knew the CU officers and said this is routine. The officers on their way out said to Brent don't be like the rest of those N.... and cut his words off before finishing it. They left and didn't check with any other students on the floor just us. It was their way of getting a feel for which freshman maybe trouble going into a new school year. I asked several white students did they have the police visit them and they said no. The only people who verify my experience were other black students.
It's hard for anyone that's not black to understand this. I've never been in trouble. I worked with several police organizations, but yet I'm still under the spotlight with certain ones because of my skin color. I look at some of the officers and they're not bad people, just screwed up values that affect everyone around them.
