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Persuasive Essay On Racism

Decent Essays

In 2016, former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, kneeled for the first 3 games of the season while the national anthem played. He did this alone, and his response was, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder” (Gaines, 2017). It seems to have rolled over into this season and many other players from several teams have decided to follow in Kaepernick’s, who was not hired by any team this year, footsteps. This has created much controversy as to whether this should be allowed because it’s believed to be a sign of disrespect. However, they are not protesting the anthem, the flag, or those who have fought and died in honor of it, they are instead protesting, as Kaepernick said once before, police brutality against African Americans, and the lack of legal accountability for the officers who are responsible for said violence. They are protesting, more broadly, the systematic ways of racism in America, and how these injustices are expanded from a personal evil into a societal one. While there is no country greater, we are not perfect, and we have much work to do, it is also no secret that inequalities still exist in 2017, something must be done, even if this something begins with our favorite football player.

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