Why Colin Kaepernick Took a Knee (US Army Veteran, Nate Boyer)

Like what the SGT said what the men and women of color are going through not everyone of us are. Colin Kaepernick is not kneeling and disrespecting the flag, he is kneeling to try and gain some recognition for the problems that need to addressed. So please stop saying he is disrespecting the flag and this country because he isn't in my eyes.

Let me put it to you this way SGT. First and foremost. You do not have the authority to tell or suggest to another to kneel during the American National Anthem or our Standard, our Colors, and our Flag. If we are at the grave site and honoring our fallen, we stand at attention immediately at the passing of our colors and the music of our, my, National Anthem. CK's protest is based off of a false narrative portrayed by media outlets. No SGT not news; a for hire media agency that created a narrative to continue a divide that a disgraceful former president created. Police do not target blacks young men. Yes there is a disproportionate rate if police vs blacks and police vs white young men reported. Police on white young men activity WILL NOT raise advertisement dollars. It will not get on the air and force fed down the viewing publics throat. Be that NCO and research the facts yourself. Get your face off of YouTube and off the publicity trail and out sweat equity into the truth of what is happening in impoverished America. If any of these or you reading think that protesting our Flag and our Anthem will raise positive awareness to any social problem. You are dumber than the most idiotic person participating in these disgraceful acts.

Two negatives will never ever equal a positive.

Tell me what America and or the Flag has to do with, if it is your belief that police target black men. Does any one agency or any one officer have sole rights and or custody of the Flag. If this is your claim, who states that they operate in the name of Americans.

I say it is because you, you all who fail to educate yourselves on what the Flag really is. What the Flag stands for. Who the Flag stands for. Where the Flag stands. When it stands. How it encompasses only the good in each and every single being on this earth.

For one to be so shallow as to place all this blame on our Flag and our Anthem only shows you have not the mental capacity to understand the true meaning of America.

I am an American and I embrace the spirit of all that is good about us all, collectively. I learned from mistakes of those from our past that hatred of one for skin color, creed, religion or whatever difference you may dream of is not going to make my life better, but will eat at your soul. I learned that we all should be willing to listen when you communicate with respect and in a peaceful tone to any divisive issue.

This country nor I am by no means perfect. You are not a perfect person either. So look deep in yourself before you react.

If you do an act that offends just one, how on earth do you think your act should take priority.

Football is a game and if it came down to it, We the people can survive without it.

Think now. Think hard!!

Can this world survive without America? I boldly tell you no. The world would become so unstable and fall into total chaos.

So saying that, allow me to introduce you to my American Flag.

I am the Flag

I am the flag of the United States of America.

I was born on June 14, 1777, in Philadelphia.

There the Continental Congress adopted my stars and stripes as the national flag.

My thirteen stripes alternating red and white, with a union of thirteen white stars in a field of blue, represented a new constellation, a new nation dedicated to the personal and religious liberty of mankind.

Today fifty stars signal from my union, one for each of the fifty sovereign states in the greatest constitutional republic the world has ever known.

My colors symbolize the patriotic ideals and spiritual qualities of the citizens of my country.

My red stripes proclaim the fearless courage and integrity of American men and boys and the self-sacrifice and devotion of American mothers and daughters.

My white stripes stand for liberty and equality for all.

My blue is the blue of heaven, loyalty, and faith.

I represent these eternal principles: liberty, justice, and humanity.

I embody American freedom: freedom of speech, religion, assembly, the press, and the sanctity of the home.

I typify that indomitable spirit of determination brought to my land by Christopher Columbus and by all my forefathers - the Pilgrims, Puritans, settlers at James town and Plymouth.

I am as old as my nation.

I am a living symbol of my nation's law: the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.

I voice Abraham Lincoln's philosophy: "A government of the people, by the people,for the people."

I stand guard over my nation's schools, the seedbed of good citizenship and true patriotism.

I am displayed in every schoolroom throughout my nation; every schoolyard has a flag pole for my display.

Daily thousands upon thousands of boys and girls pledge their allegiance to me and my country.

I have my own law—Public Law 829, "The Flag Code" - which definitely states my correct use and display for all occasions and situations.

I have my special day, Flag Day. June 14 is set aside to honor my birth.

Americans, I am the sacred emblem of your country. I symbolize your birthright, your heritage of liberty purchased with blood and sorrow.

I am your title deed of freedom, which is yours to enjoy and hold in trust for posterity.

If you fail to keep this sacred trust inviolate, if I am nullified and destroyed, you and your children will become slaves to dictators and despots.

Eternal vigilance is your price of freedom.

As you see me silhouetted against the peaceful skies of my country, remind yourself that I am the flag of your country, that I stand for what you are - no more, no less.

Guard me well, lest your freedom perish from the earth.

Dedicate your lives to those principles for which I stand: "One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

I was created in freedom. I made my first appearance in a battle for human liberty.

God grant that I may spend eternity in my "land of the free and the home of the brave" and that I shall ever be known as "Old Glory," the flag of the United States of America.