Dear Ms. Carroll and others who believe that kneeling for the national anthem is disrespectful and ineffective:
We as sports fans can debate the athletic capabilities of Kaepernick, but to relegate him to a benchwarmer is not an effective way to say he is trying to pull a publicity stunt, but more of a way to name call and belittle his attempts to highlight issues. Before I get to my point, I hope you, and others who may share your feelings on this issue, realize how and who the “Star-Spangled Banner” was written for. Francis Scott Key was a lawyer and slave-owner who in his own words said African Americans are “a distinct and inferior race of people, which all experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts a community." So before you revere the anthem and patriotism as these transcendent, pristine standards of what makes a great nation, make sure you understand who some of its major figures were. If it means being disrespectful towards a man who thought people such as myself are inferior, then I support Kaepernick fully.
Secondly, in your column you never actually state what or why his protest is ineffective. Is it simply the fact that he is not holding a press conference or doing a press release? Furthermore, your assertion that athletes, especially those of color, have to protest in the way YOU want them to is absolute antithesis of an effective protest. People were not supportive of Martin Luther King Jr. when he was at his height with the civil rights movement. According to Gallup, his positive ratings were only 41 percent in 1963 and as low as 32 percent in 1966. We hail the nonviolence of MLK and the civil rights movement but have all this anger over someone taking a knee. It’s absolutely laughable but extremely problematic. For some reason, the general public outside of the community affected are so dismissive of the plight, simply because it does not meet their respectability quota. The fact that columns such as these still come up on campuses across the country shows just how effective his protest has been. Instead of having anger against Kaepernick and others joining him, please spend your time fighting police brutality and other social issues alongside those affected. That is how we all can truly have an effect.