Just for a minute put yourself in the place of a celebrity and ask yourself how would you use your fame and fortune. Now, bring yourself back down to earth and think about what makes you upset within everyday life. You may be upset with the way your class is going, something with your own personal life or something you saw on TV that just made you mad or confused.

In today’s politically dominated culture, it’s easy to get upset or frustrated with what you hear, read or see. Everyone in America can say they are frustrated or disagree with something that is going on in the world, and you have the opportunity to voice that opinion, that’s called your first amendment right.

In the past few years, there has been a lot of debate with what freedom of speech actually allows and shouldn’t allow. Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was one of the first people to stir up this debate and has since paid a price for his beliefs.

Last season, the NFL QB began to take a knee during the national anthem at the beginning of football games. It’s a moment in sports that is seen as a sacred practice to honor our country, but Kaepernick felt as though his country was not honoring him. It should also be mentioned that NFL teams have not always been on the field during the anthem, it only recently started in 2009. In a practice of civil disobedience, Kaepernick was bringing attention to racial inequality in America.

The response towards the QB was overwhelming on both sides. Some saying it was a sign of utter disrespect, and others saying it was time someone in his position was using their popularity for good.

Now bring yourself back to the first question, what would you do if you were Colin Kaepernick and you felt passionately about something? Would you use the enormous stage that is the NFL to try and spread your message?

It’s not like this is the first time this has ever happened. During the 1968 Summer Olympics, two U.S. athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, placed in the medal rounds. Meaning they would be on the podium to accept their medals, and they chose to use that moment to deliver a powerful message by wearing black gloves and raising their fists in the air referencing Black Power.

That moment in history is now seen as one of the most powerful moments in sports and was a shining example of how sports and politics have always held an important relationship. Yet some see Kaepernick as disrespectful or un-American.

How can someone exercising their first amendment right be un-American? Colin Kaepernick is participating in something that we instill in children when they come up in grade school. We teach them about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi participating in civil disobedience, but when someone actually exercises it than its seen as treasonous?

Now in the NFL, almost half the teams have a player that chooses to sit during the national anthem, with even the Pittsburgh Steelers opting to stay in the locker room during the anthem. There is no way when we look back at this moment in twenty years that Colin Kaepernick will be seen as a disrespectful, treasonous “disruption” to his team.

Every time in history when we see a moment like this, there is always opposition. Those people are often on the wrong side of history, voicing your freedom of speech is not spewing hate across college campuses with tiki torches. It’s not firing or cutting a player from a team because they are living, breathing humans with thoughts and opinions. That’s trying to forget or burying the issue instead of trying to solve it.

Kaepernick isn’t starting a coup or raising up pitchforks. He is bringing awareness to an issue that impacts many Americans. But just this past week, President Donald Trump said this about NFL players kneeling at a rally in Alabama:

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘get that son of a bitch off the field right now — he’s fired.’”

Since then, professional athletes have begun to stick up for the movement that Kaepernick started last year. The president also later tweeted that Stephen Curry, the point guard for the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors, was no longer invited to visit the White House. Curry came out saying he was debating visiting because he disagreed with what President Trump has and has not said in certain situations. The entire team has now said they will no longer be attending the White House.

For those who also think that this effort by NFL players and now other athletes is pointless and that they aren’t affected by this issue, tell Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett that. Bennett was tackled by police in Las Vegas after he attended the McGregor-Mayweather boxing match. Bennett and the group he was with thought they heard what was the sound of gun-shots and ran to cover.

Bennett was then tackled by police, with even one officer pulling a gun on him. Bennett said that he was racially profiled and was subject to excessive force by Vegas PD. A video of the incident later surfaced shedding light on the very issue Kaepernick has been protesting. Needless to say, Bennett also sits during the national anthem.

To those who see it as a sign of disrespect to our country, that is fine to believe the flag has a different meaning to everyone. Steelers offensive tackle and former Army Ranger Alejandro Villanueva was the sole member of his team to participate in the national anthem, but he should not be singled out and judged for doing what he though was right. The beauty of being in this country is that you can have differing beliefs and thoughts. We don’t need to ostracize what is now a growing minority in the NFL, and this is far from the last Sunday where we will see these acts of protest.