By now, you might be tired of reading about Colin Kaepernick. You might think the issue has been overdrawn, dragged out by the media just looking for a controversial story. You might be tired of football commentators bringing every NFL game’s halftime coverage back to event that happened before kickoff. The events of the last few days prove that the story is far from over, though, and needs more attention now than ever.
The killings of two black men, Terrence Crutcher and Keith Lamont Scott, have reignited the debate over police brutality that emerges periodically now in the American media cycle. While these specific cases are under investigation, they, and the many similar cases that have come before them, prove time and time again that racial issues are not over in our country, and something needs to be done about the state-sponsored violence the black community faces.
Kaepernick kneels because he recognizes these problems. He kneels because he is issuing a call to action to change the oppressive structures surrounding black Americans. He kneels because he knows that the flag is supposed to represent freedom and justice, and he wants it to do that for all Americans. He kneels because he cares about America. And thus, his kneeling shows that he is more patriotic than those yelling at him to stand up. Patriotism isn’t passive. Patriotism is actively trying to shape your country into the best nation it can possibly be; it is trying to ensure that we live up to the ideals of democracy and liberation that our founding fathers stood for. No institution can ever be perfect, including the American government, so recognizing and actively trying to remedy those flaws is a crucial part of the democratic process. As author and businessman Steven Covey said, “Love is a verb,” and the same is true for love of country.
What patriotism is not is a blind acceptance of America’s virtuosity and worth. That is more akin to fascism, a concept that is bordered very closely by unexamined nationalism. Sometimes, though, this type of patriotism is the easiest. If we refuse to acknowledge any problems in our nation, then we don’t have to expend any effort to try and fix them. Many white Americans can live comfortably in this ignorant bliss, this passive nationalism, when it comes to the case of police brutality. But America, and democracy at large, are built on community, on a large and diverse group of people coming together to ensure that government is not tyrannical. In our country, if freedom does not exist for all, it can exist for none. Demanding respect for a flag and a country that does not currently stand for the values it was founded upon is not patriotic. Ignoring someone’s right to freedom of speech and freedom of protest is not patriotic. Anyone can stand and place their hands over their hearts for a minute and half — what takes real love of country is shirking a tradition and facing incredible backlash to advocate for change and reform. So if you want to continue to criticize and crucify Kaepernick for kneeling during the national anthem, stop hiding your hatred behind patriotism and call it what it really is –– racism.
Marissa Cornelius is a junior major secondary education. Her column runs biweekly.
