By Aleyna Orth Despite the fact that the team hasn’t won a Super Bowl title in over 20 years, the San Francisco 49ers have been getting a lot of attention lately due to quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The 28-year-old starter began kneeling for the singing of the national anthem at the beginning of this football season, which obviously immediately stirred up controversy. People were quick to call him ignorant, disrespectful, and a laundry list of other things, all before he even explained his reasoning behind it. Kaepernick did not feel like he should stand up and pledge to an anthem that didn’t live up to its word. The recent police violence and inequality in the US made the land of the free feel a little less free and a lot more barred. Shortly after Kaepernick began kneeling, other players from other NFL teams began doing the same thing, for the same reason. Not long after that, football players on high school teams across the country began doing the same thing.
“People have the right to do whatever they want in this country, but I still think it’s just a little disrespectful,” said Wilson’s wide receiver Chris Roberson, when asked about how he would feel if members of his football team started doing the same thing during the national anthem. “There are people out there that are fighting for us every day, and I feel like kneeling during the national anthem just shows a massive amount of disrespect towards them. My brother’s in the Marines, and I understand how hard it can be to be out there fighting. I wouldn’t want anyone disrespecting him or anyone else in that field. There are other ways to protest.” Roberson continued. Reactions to this situation have certainly been mixed. Some of the high school coaches, and even NFL coaches, were not standing for these protests and made it very clear that if their players took a knee during the national anthem, they would no longer be on the team. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there were veterans that spoke out about how they were proud of Kaepernick for taking such a stand - due to the fact that these veterans fought in order for him to have the right to do such a thing. Overall, people will debate this issue again and again, but it will not change the personal beliefs of Kaepernick and other players who are following his lead and protesting the current state of the country. While people may not agree with these actions, they have certainly brought a massive amount of attention to the issue, which is part of Kaepernick’s initial goal. Any attention brought to the issue, whether positive or negative, is still helping raise awareness.
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February 2020
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