Colin Kaepernick.
Finally, people have spoken up for Colin Kaepernick’s sit down in an attempt to bring attention to the ongoing murders of brown people, and those people are veterans.
In the days since San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem as a way to protest the oppression of people of color in the United States, journalists, fans, and NFL players both past and present have expressed their outrage.
Most of their criticism focuses in on the disrespect that Kaepernick was supposedly showing the flag and the U.S. military members who have fought and died for our freedom.
Well, on Tuesday, veterans from all over the country took to social media, not to attack Kaepernick for his actions, but rather to show their support. The #VeteransForKaepernick hashtag took off and ended up trending worldwide.
Don't use my service–or that of any veteran–to justify the silencing of black Americans. Not on my watch. #VeteransForKaepernick
— Charles Clymer (@cmclymer) August 31, 2016
#VeteransForKaepernick Although my grandfather served two tours in Vietnam, he couldn't even rent a home near his base b/c he was black.
— Blorenzo (@blorenzo) August 30, 2016
My grandfather, a black man, was denied a hotel room WHILE IN HIS SERVICE DRESS. #VeteransForKaepernick
— blasianbri (@blasianbri_) August 30, 2016
My fiance served not 1 BUT 2 tours in Iraq and STILL gets pulled out of his car, handcuffed and sat on the curb by #VeteransforKaepernick
— Ms.Bordeaux (@InezBordeaux) August 30, 2016
And others pointed out that black veterans are not immune from being shot by police once they return to civilian life. Just last September, India Kager, a 28-year-old navy veteran, was shot and killed by police in her parked car while her four-month-old son was in the backseat.
#IndiaKager Served her country. Police served her a death sentence. #VeteransForKaepernick pic.twitter.com/2HcnMP1MlB
— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) August 31, 2016
My thanks to all the veterans who stood up and put those nasty bigots in their place. Full story and more tweets at Think Progress.
My favourite hypocritical outrage boils down to “men and women died for your freedom, so how dare you exercise that freedom?!!?!?!?”
Tabby:
Yep, pretty much in the nutshell. I always find it interesting that most of those yelling and setting things on fire aren’t those who happened to serve in the military.
I saw a good one that was almost on point: “stockpiling guns to resist that government you insist everyone pledge allegiance to”
How many men and women did actually die for our freedom, and how many of them were killed while invading other countries?