Letter to the Editor

It seems all big companies face some kind of controversy at some point. Recently Nike faced harsh backlash for using Colin Kaepernick as one of the faces of their new campaign. I believe this was a smart choice because Kaepernick stood, or knelt, for what he believed in, which is fighting against police brutality. From an article published in the Sept. 18 edition of “The Mentor” a reason this issue is controversial is respect.

I want to start with some basic forms of disrespect seen in the NFL and everyday life. Before 2009, NFL teams didn’t come out of the locker room for the National Anthem, and this didn’t seem to cause an issue. At Kansas City Chiefs games, and even our own home football games, the crowd chooses to replace the the line “and the home of the brave” with “and the home of the CHIEFS.” The American flag is held horizontally across the field, which is against flag code, as well as the flag being presented on uniforms. (Flag Code Chapter 4 Title 1 §8 c and d)

Kaepernick, when kneeling for the anthem, faces towards the flag and doesn’t show any other signs of disrespect. Something we see so much is the flag on clothing, so why aren’t people concerned about the flag being presented on clothing? Why aren’t we concerned that teachers have flags hung the wrong way in their classrooms? It’s because those issues don’t take the spotlight off of main stream media or the privileged part of America, therefore not making them think about their actions in everyday life.

Though Kaepernick received many offers from NFL teams, there were conditions that would have made him go against what he believed in, which was that taking a knee during the Anthem would help bring awareness to police brutality. This is fitting for the slogan of the campaign which is “Stand for something, even if it means losing everything.” This would be like someone denying an offer if they would be forced to take a knee for the anthem, which we wouldn’t view as a big deal. Or if someone was offered a job that paid well, under the condition that you would have to spend two hours a day doing something you don’t stand for. It seems a bit outrageous to do that, because you should have the right not to do that. Kaepernick shouldn’t have to do something that he doesn’t believe in, even if you think that the job gave him so much money. That’s the reason he didn’t commit to any other team, contrary to what was stated in the Sept. 18 edition of this paper.

Kaepernick had a spotlight, and used it in a non disrespectful way that is easily seen by millions of people every week. It brought up a good spotlight on the issue of police brutality that needed to be brought up, especially in a world like ours.

Trinity Price, senior.