Collin Kaepernick felt he was standing up to the "racism", after being disgusted by the interaction between a police officer and a Hispanic individual, by kneeling during the national anthem. This way of protesting is wrong because it is disrespectful to the men and women that fought for our freedoms. It also is not an appropriate way to protest, furthermore the flag doesn’t signify less to a minority because they are a minority, the flag signifies less to a person based on personal beliefs or emotions. Many men and women have gone to war to fight for our freedoms of speech, religion, rights to own a gun, and the right to make our own choices up to a certain extent. Although many people say "kneeling during the national anthem is a protected right", kneeling is a slap in the face to our soldiers at war. Standing during the national anthem is done to respect them and show them our gratitude. When these people kneel during the national anthem, whether they're trying to protest or not, it is very inconsiderate and rude to the protectors of our rights, our families and our country. While there are many different ways to protest kneeling during the national anthem is not one of them. "They were peacefully protesting", even if kneeling is "peaceful" as a start it is not peaceful as a finish. Many people including veterans, football coaches and the president of the united states have started to chime in on this protest against racism, adding in their comments and how they are going to handle the situation. Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys football team threatened the team and said if anyone knelt during the national anthem they would not play; however, he and his team knelt before the national anthem to show their understanding of the protest and to support it in a peaceful and respecting way. Finally, we come to the accusations that the American flag "means something, but not as much to a black man as it does to a white man". A person puts meaning to something, for example the flag, not the other way around. The flag does not have the power to tell someone "I mean something to you and you're going to feel something when you see me". This is personification, giving human qualities to a non-human object, telling people the flag doesn't mean as much to a minority because he is a minority is not the flags fault or anyone else's except the persons. You put meaning to something and nobody can really control how you feel about that besides yourself. If the flag doesn’t mean something to you and you're using the excuse of being a minority then that's your own feeling not the flags doing. You can still be proud of the flag and feel united as the United States of America even if you are the minority, it just all depends on how you think and what thoughts others put out that make you think that way. In conclusion, there are many understandable reasons for players and people to kneel during the national anthem; however, just because the reasons that are given are understood that does not mean they are the correct way to protest. Kneeling during a national song that represents your country and the hardships we as a nation have overcome is not the proper way nor respectful way to protest. It is uncivil to the sufferings and dark times our soldiers have put themselves through to fight for our rights as a country and the ability for us to hang our flag with pride.