Colin Kaepernick is a special kind of doofus. He needs to be entered into the NFL's head trauma regimen immediately. I didn't want to post anything until I heard his side of the story but after reading it, the guy is just clueless. Aside from the obvious fact that he is a young man who is making millions of dollars playing a game, he's just not even considering a lot of very important facts related to this situation.
I know this country isn't perfect. I know we have problems. Racism, classism, discrimination, etc. have existed as long as humans have been roaming the Earth. It's a sad and sorry part of the human condition. It's something we've made a great deal of progress with. Are we there yet? No, we're not. But we are (correct me if I am wrong) the first Western European founded nation to ever have a leader who is not white.
What Kaepernick is forgetting is that while he may hate what he views as oppression (which is unfounded) that flag is the symbol of the Union which sacrificed hundreds of thousands of lives to stop the horrific enslavement of his people. That flag is the same flag under which America sent an entire generation of its young men to die in Africa, Asia and Europe to free people from tyranny.
Again, there's a lot that's been done in this nation that wasn't right. Is any of us without moments we regret and times when we did things we know are wrong? The same is the case with our nation. We have our scars and our wrongful moments. But as the great as Harvard sociologist Orlando Patterson said, America, “is now the least racist white majority society in the world; has a better record of legal protections of minorities than any other society, white or black; offers more opportunities to a greater number of black persons than any other society, including all of those of Africa."
I hope he takes some time to learn about history a little bit and gain a little wisdom and perspective. I'm not especially proud of our nation right now either but I damn sure am going to honor the noble sacrifices of those that came before me. I have offered next to nothing to the altar of freedom and I will never disgrace those who have.