Not Standing For National Anthem

Since when is not standing for the National Anthem such a controversial issue? Ever since NFL player, Collin Kaepernick didn’t stand up for the National Anthem during his game, he has been hated on ever since. The NFL stated that “Players are encouraged but not required to stand during the playing of the national anthem”. It is a part of their first amendment right to not stand during the Anthem. After the first game where Collin refused to stand for the Anthem he stated, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color”. Collin and other athletes /celebrities are protesting strictly for the fact of black people being treated unequally and not getting any justice when it comes to police brutality. It has nothing to do with disrespecting the American Flag, or people who are serving in the military. For example, Collin said “The media painted this as I’m anti-American, anti-men-and-women of the military and that’s not the case at all, I realize that men and women of the military go out and sacrifice their lives and put themselves in harm’s way for my freedom of speech and my freedoms in this country and my freedom to take a seat or take a knee so I have the utmost respect for them”. Collin is one of many athletes and celebrities who have joined him in protesting. Once athletes started to not stand for the Anthem, companies have started taking there endorsements away from the players. For example, the Denver Post recently posted an article about Denver Bronco player Brandon Marshall that states, “Friday, Brandon Marshall lost an endorsement with Air Academy Federal Credit Union. On Monday, Marshall lost another in CenturyLink.” Even though I don’t necessarily agree with companies taking their endorsements from players, they also have the right to do so, even though they are all standing up for something that needs to be fixed. Even with all the hate that the players and celebrities are receiving, they are all determined to take a stand and make a change for what they believe in.

When Will The Violence Stop?

When will the violence stop? When are we going to be able to watch the news without seeing police killing innocent people? MURDER IS MURDER! As we all know, police officer, Betty Shelby shot and killed Terence Crutcher at around 7:30 on Friday night. In the video posted by CNN, you can obviously see that Terence is cooperating with his hands up. Bettys attorney stated, "She was yelling at him to stop, for probably at least 10 to 15 seconds. He gets to the window of the SUV, and has his hands in the air, looks at them ... and his left hand goes into the window". In this video that shows the footage of the whole shooting, you can clearly see that Terence’s window up. Also, considering that after the shooting there was blood all over the window, proves that there was no way that Terence could have tried to reach in the car. Still trying to figure out how a black man that is looking for help with his car is viewed as a “threat”. In the police helicopter footage, you hear someone say “that looks like a bad dude to, could be on something”. First off, the person who made that statement in the video obviously judged Terence off the way he looks. What makes him look like a bad dude? Is it because he is a different color then the officers were? Terence actually just celebrated his 40^th birthday party with his twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher. He was a father of four that loved god and participated at church events every week. Terence also enrolled in a community college, and told his sister told his sister, "I'm going to make you all proud”. Even though the officer responsible for the death of Terence turned herself in, there is nothing that is going to bring this man back to his family and children.

Why BLM isn't a hate group

Many people view the BLM movement as a hate group. Truth is, it’s just a group of people, of many races, that aren’t happy with black people being treated unequally. The media will always make things look way worse than it really is. I blame the media for giving the movement such a bad name. For example, Bill O’Reilly from Fox News said “I think they're a hate group, they hate police officers ... they hate them, they want them dead”. First off, the movement is not anti-police. There are tons of great police officers out there that take their job seriously and treat everyone equally like they should. However, there are some officers who don’t treat everyone the same. Every officers job is to serve and protect. The three sisters (Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza) who started the movement also stated, “Police officers are people. Their lives have inherent value. This movement is not an anti-people movement; therefore, it is not an anti-police-officer movement. Most police officers are just everyday people who want to do their jobs, make a living for their families, and come home safely at the end of their shift”. There is no reason that an innocent black man should fear being pulled over or confronted by an officer. There have been way too many cases that a black man was killed for allegedly “reaching for a weapon” while they were asked to show their license and registration. The weird thing about that is that at the end, there wasn’t a gun or any weapon. Police officers are so quick to pull out a gun and shoot a black man as if their life doesn’t matter. Officers carry pepper spray, a taser, etc. so why turn do they turn to the gun first and pull the trigger. Due to some of the recent protest that resulted in police officers being injured, people blame the movement as a whole and therefore say that the movement is a “hate group”. You can’t say that the people who support the movement all hate police just because of the actions of a few people. With that being said, the movement would like that police officers treat everyone the same instead of viewing the black man as unsafe and dangerous.

I’m still trying to figure out how some people believe this movement to be anti-white. Black Lives Matter is not saying that black lives are the only lives that matter, its saying that black lives matter too. The people that think that the BLM movement is anti-white are the people that believe in order for white lives to matter, black lives cannot. And that’s where we as a country fail. We are all human and deserve to be treated the same regardless of the color of your skin. The three sisters also said that “None of this is about hatred for white life. It is about acknowledging that the system already treats white lives as if they have more value, as if they are more worthy of protection, safety, education, and a good quality of life than black lives are”. Black lives haven’t mattered throughout history and this movement is to help change that and allow blacks to receive the same aid as a white person will get. For example, Dylann Storm Roof, a 21-year-old high school dropout, who shot 9 worshippers was treated to burger king by police officers after being arrested. First off, why would anyone who killed 9 people be allowed to go to burger king after the arrest. If the tables were flipped and it was a black man who killed even 1 person, I bet he wouldn’t have been taken to burger king by officers. This goes to show that white people are valued more than black people are and it shouldn’t be that way. The Black Lives Matter movement is trying to make a change and there are tons of people of different races, including white people, that support this movement.