Annie Reneau

Kaepernick sat on the bench during the national anthem on August 26, 2016, because he saw the racial disparities in our legal and justice systems and felt that our country—the one our flag and anthem represent—was not living up to its ideals of “liberty and justice for all.”

That simple action created an uproar among people who took it as disrespect for the flag and for the veterans who sacrificed for our freedoms. Controversy ensued.

Another football player and veteran—former Seahawk and Green Beret, Nate Boyer—saw this go down. He wrote to Kaepernick, sharing support for the basis of his protest but explaining why sitting during the anthem created such a visceral response in some people, including himself.

Kaepernick invited Boyer to meet with him. They spoke for 90 minutes, sharing their different perspectives. Kap said he wanted to make his statement without being disrespectful to the military.

Boyer suggested that instead of sitting, Kap could kneel during the anthem. Soldiers take a knee when one is wounded. They take a knee at a fellow soldier’s gravesite. They take a knee to pray. Taking a knee is a sign of respect and reverence.

Again, Kaepernick wanted to stage his peaceful demonstration while still showing respect for the military, so he talked to a veteran about how to do that. And that veteran suggested he take a knee instead of sitting **because taking a knee is a sign of respect and reverence.**

I don’t know how people keep missing this and complaining that Kap and others who have knelt during the anthem are disrespecting the military.

We kneel to pray. We kneel to propose marriage. We kneel before royalty. Taking a knee in those instances is a sign of respect and reverence. Soldiers kneel in solidarity with the wounded. Football players themselves kneel when a player is injured and carried off the field.

Taking a knee says, “I see you and acknowledge your suffering.” It is always a sign of respect and reverence. Always. Can you think of a situation in which consciously getting down on one knee is not a sign of respect? I can't.

It’s not like Kap flipped a middle finger to the flag or dropped his pants and mooned it. It’s not like he even turned his back on it. He simply didn’t stand, and when he realized that was being misinterpreted, he knelt — at the suggestion of a veteran.

Taking a knee during the anthem is NOT a statement AGAINST what the flag stands for. It says America is wounded by racism and injured by injustice. It says to those in our nation who are still not experiencing true liberty and justice, “I see you and acknowledge your suffering.”

And it says all of that while ALSO saying, “I respect the sacrifices made by those who fight to protect our freedoms”— because, once again, taking a knee is a sign of respect.

The flag and anthem belong to all of us. They are symbols of our ideals of “liberty and justice for all.” If some of our citizens are still not experiencing true liberty and real justice, then our flag and our anthem are not representing the nation as we think they are.

And that is why these protests are happening. We need to acknowledge that there’s more than one way to fight for your country, and stop questioning the patriotism of a man who has sacrificed his career and reputation trying to make America a more just place for all. #JustDoIt