It began when National Football League player Colin Kaepernick sat on the bench during the national anthem at a preseason game against the Houston Texans Aug. 14, 2016. At the following games, he moved from sitting to kneeling during the national anthem. Media coverage on social media and television soon followed. Kaepernick’s purpose was to shed light on the brutality black Americans face every day in the United States

Since then, after continued kneeling, President Donald Trump has released tweets on the matter. By calling out the NFL and threatening it with boycotts, many teams are adding to the kneeling movement.

So now, the reason for kneeling is wrong. The teams are no longer kneeling for what Kaepernick once advocated for but to stand up to the president’s accusations. This is not the right reason to be taking a knee. Players should be kneeling for the equality of minorities and the factuality of police brutality. If this is not the reason they are kneeling, maybe the bench is where they should be sitting.

The “unity” the NFL is standing for is based off a threat to the business that is professional football. They are standing in unity for the derogatory comments made about the league. President Trump can huff and puff all day long about boycotting the NFL or bully them into submission, but it is one man against a strong private organization of thousands. The NFL feels threatened by President Trump’s antics because it affects their business. Even though some franchise owners donated millions to President Trump’s campaign, no one disrespects their source of income.

Football is considered to be “America’s greatest past time.” Although overrated, it would be ridiculous to boycott an association that brings in billions of dollars annually. It would be ludicrous to take away more opportunities from the underprivileged, that the NFL provides each year such as “Play 60,” an in-school youth wellness and fitness program. It would be unprecedented for President Trump to take away a “manly” sport from a patriarchal country because he disagrees with how business is ran. Yet, the NFL is more offended by the threats of a blockade against their rights to protest than the facade of equality for all people in this country today. This alternative reason is trapped in the media constantly being regurgitated to continue to take away power from black Americans’ voices.  

Focusing on divisive tweets and the poor light it shows the NFL in is not what the country should be doing. As a whole, the country needs to come together with a shared mutual respect for knowledge about equality in this nation and be open to suggestions. This is key to actual unity. Black lives and other minorities’ problems are swept under the rug repeatedly in this country and when people take a stand that is when it should be noticed. When unarmed black men are shot  for the sake of profiling or when the color of skin affects how people are treated it becomes a call for the people’s help. Finally, light is shed on systematic oppression in America and how it should be fixed and the NFL and President Trump are afraid that the attention will not be on them for once.

Kaepernick’s true message has been avoided since it was first spoke of. The NFL shifts the face of his message from Black Lives Matter, to the freedoms of the Bill of Rights and the angered veterans who find him disrespectful. As a country, the United States needs to face racism and the ignorance that comes with it. Although scary to some, discussing our issues instead of whitewashing the problem is most important. Even learning about sociological issues in school at a young age would help. On a local perspective, the kneeling is affecting players within Kansas City, with the Kansas City Chiefs’ cornerback Marcus Peters sitting during the anthem. Sports channels too are refusing to show the pre-game at all due to backlash. All of this is proving that now is the time for Americans to hone in on the problem of this country: racism.