Sit down, stand up

Football, is there anything more American?

Certainly, grown men pummeling the hell out of one another for points and big money feels like a very red, white and blue pursuit.

Why, then, are some so enraged by Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem at games? If you support free speech then his decision to sit is about as American as it gets.

In an interview with NFL Media, the San Francisco quarterback linked his choice to the Black Lives Matter movement. “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” said Kaepernick, who is biracial. “There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

Many supported his choice, but, not surprisingly, there was also harsh backlash.

Donald Trump, the would-be arbitrator of making America great again, suggested in a radio interview that Kaepernick “should find a country that works better for him.”

Similar sentiments echoed in my social media feed: “He’s rich, what does he know about oppression?” “He’s not even that black.” “Political correctness wins again.”

Supporting Kaepernick’s right to sit out the national anthem isn’t about being politically correct. It’s about supporting his freedom of expression, whether you agree with him—regardless of whether you think he’s “too rich” or “not black enough.”

Any flag-waving patriot who argues otherwise either doesn’t get it, or chooses only to honor that freedom if it suits his or her own beliefs.

Those who don’t stand up for Kaepernick’s right to sit are the only ones guilty of being un-American here.