“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter” is what George Washington stated about the right to Freedom of Speech. He is one of the founding fathers, and even he knew it was a right all people should have. Kaepernick is only expressing his right to freedom of speech. Despite receiving a lot of hate, he is also getting a lot of praise, such as other sports players kneeling or standing with a fist in the air. Additionally, this type of action has happened in the past. Kaepernick is only defending his right of freedom of speech and is receiving mixed reactions. He has the right to express his thoughts on our country, just like people have the right to criticize Kaepernick for his actions.

To begin, Kaepernick is only using his right of freedom of speech. He is using his right like his haters. They are using freedom of speech to publicly criticize him. Kaepernick stated in a press conference, "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” and later in that same conference, “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way” (NFL).He is saying that he doesn’t feel he has to stand up to the flag of his country, when they are wronging him in various ways. Kaepernick stated in a team meeting later that week, "People don't realize what's really going on in this country. There are a lot things that are going on that are unjust. People aren't being held accountable for. And that's something that needs to change. That's something that this country stands for. Freedom, liberty and justice for all. And it's not happening for all right now" (49ers). Kaepernick is protesting because he believes that the country is not upholding to the constitution they wrote all those centuries ago. It is written in the US constitution, “abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble.” It seems that Colin Kaepernick is on the right track to getting his opinion accepted, because he seems to know how to take advantage of a combination of his power and his rights.

However, Kaepernick is not the only person protesting. Kaepernick has solidarity with other athletes from many different sports. Steve Wyche, a writer for NFL wrote, “By taking a stand for civil rights, Kaepernick, 28, joins other athletes, like the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony and several Womens National Basketball Association (WNBA) players in using their platform and status to raise awareness to issues affecting minorities in the U.S.” Clearly, there are some really famous people participating in this protest. Through October 29th,  48 National Football League (NFL) Players, nine NBA teams, countless colleges and high schools, three singers, one gold medal olympic swimmer, one pro soccer player, and people from over four countries, have participated in this protest (ThinkProgress). That is a lot of people. three time pro-bowler, NaVorro Bowman, of the San Francisco 49ers supported his teammate by saying, “Every guy on this team is entitled to his opinion. We’re all grown men. We play the ultimate team sport. And we ask a lot of guys to come together, no matter what their beliefs are, no matter how they were brought up, to have one common goal, and that’s to win football games. Anything outside of that is not really important to the team. We just continue to stress that.” Others accept his beliefs. Eli Harold, a 49ers linebacker said, “Just because this man is standing up for something he believes in doesn't give you the right to boo him.” Clearly, his teammates all have faith in him.

Thankfully, Kaepernick has been drawing a massive amount of respect throughout this protest, but it isn’t the first time something like Kaepernick's protest has happened. In the 1996 NBA season, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, a player for the Denver Nuggets refused to stand for the national anthem for religious reasons. He had converted to Islam 5 years earlier, and changed his name from Chris Jackson to Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf in 1993. The worst Kaepernick has gotten are people posting videos on social media of burning his jerseys. Abdul-Rauf got death threats through phone and mail, a suspension from the NBA, someone burning his house down, and even when he was building his new house, someone wrote “KKK” on a fence near the construction site. Him and the NBA reached a compromise that he had to stand but could pray with his head down during the national anthem, but the effects of his protest took a toll on his job. After the 1996 season, the Nuggets traded him away to the Kings, even though he was the team leader in points per game, at 19.2. When his contract with the Kings expired in 1998, he was immediately let go, and he could only get as much as a tryout for any NBA team, but he didn’t make it onto a team. He barely snagged a spot on the Grizzlies for the 2000-2001 NBA season, but only played 12 minutes per game. He never played in the NBA again. He played internationally for the next decade or so, before retiring in 2011. He stated in an interview that he thinks Kaepernick's NFL career might spiral downwards, just like his NBA career did.

In conclusion, Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest is not a sign of people of abusing their power, but taking advantage of it to get his opinion of our country out into the public. Many people think this is wrong and has no support, but he shares a common thought with many other sports stars that these haters idolize. To support that further, this protest has happened before, but for religious reasons, not for racial oppression. The effects put to scale were a lot worse then, than they are now. No matter who you are or whether you like a person or not, you still need to respect them, their beliefs, and people that share their interests, despite disliking that person.