The Colin Kaepernick story continues to get bigger and bigger. After the San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand during the national anthem, all media sites broke loose.  Kaepernick stated in protest to the National Anthem, “I have to stand up for people that are oppressed. If they take away football for me, I know that I stood up for what is right”

Kaepernick stood or sat for what he believes in and stated that he had the utmost respect for those who fight for his “freedom of speech and my freedoms in this country and my freedom to take a seat or take a knee…” He even promised to donate one million dollars to groups devoted to this cause. This shows that he meant no disrespect to anyone.

This quarterback continued to get slammed by everyone on social media and the news. It came to a point where the Santa Clara Police Union were coming into the picture. Time.com stated that, “a California police union said its members might stop working [the] San Francisco 49ers home games.” The police union stated their reasoning behind a potential boycott of the San Francisco games was because of Kaepernick’s refusal to stand during the national anthem over “racial injustice and police violence,” according to time.com.

A letter received on Sept 2 by NBC Bay Area said that if the 49ers did not take action against Kaepernick then the police could choose not to work at their facilities.

It had been heard that week by Frank Saunders the president of the Santa Clara Police Office, that some of the officers from Santa Clara were not going to work that upcoming Monday night football game.

Kaepernick had the right to sit, as that was his constitutional right to decide whether or not he would stand for The National Anthem. Others may disagree and say he is a disgrace to Americans but no one has the right to say such things. Kaepernick was raised to believe what he wants and if he does not fully support the national anthem then so be it.

Kaepernick’s meaning behind not standing is an honorable one. Kaepernick exclaims, “It’s admirable, I am not going to stand up and show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color.” Kaepernick continues, “…there are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.” This quote conveys his reason for not standing up in his mind was the right one.

Injustice in the world is not changing, and what better way for someone who is on a high platform, such as a big name football team to help put a stop to what people have been trying to end for years. Kaepernick was simply trying to stand up for the African Americans in the world who are being treated unequally.

Just because he sat in his own right and said things that people look up to, does not make what he did right to a certain extent. As an athlete myself, I feel as if sitting down during the national anthem is a little disrespectful. Being American is something to be proud of, we honor our country with such respect that they show us for being able to even play sports.

As for the police officers that were threatening to boycott the 49ers game, they were in the wrong. Should the police not be there for our protection? They should be there to protect us and just because someone has different views than them does not mean they should have resulted to using unnecessary threats

Football is and will continue to be one of America’s favorite sports, and they will forever need the police’s help to run games smoothly. For a police force to say the things that they did was disgusting in its own right.

The police have since canceled their threat. On Sept. 9 the Santa Clara Police sent out a statement that stated, “[they] will encourage our officers to work 49ers games and other stadium events.”