In Defense of Kaepernick

In defense of Kaepernick, when I joined the army, I did not swear to uphold the national anthem. I did not swear to protect the flag. I swore an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America (and protect the land from enemies both foreign and domestic).

Now I know ya’ll are thinking, “Yeah, yeah … the Constitution. But the symbol of America is… ” Hold your horses. The symbols don’t exist without the Constitution. Do you even know the Constitution? Do you know it is one of only two living documents in the world? Do you know what that means? More important, when was the last time you read the Constitution?

Your second thought is, “I know the Constitution. I read it… ” Stop. Be honest, you read it in fourth grade because you were being tested. But did you really have comprehension of the words? Did the words inspire you to be a better human? Did they slip into your ears and seed your heart? If you as an American understood and believed those words breathed into the fabric of our country then there is no way you can be okay with the blatant injustice taking place with law enforcement, with us bombing overseas, with human rights violations and the LGBTQ community, with the conservative war on women and with this phony election.

Did you know these words exist in our Constitution?

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Do you know what this means? To me it means as an American, I have the right to feel safe walking down my street, five house away from my home, after going to see a friend’s band play. It means Terence Crutcher has the unalienable right to be safe picking up his child from school while he sat in his vehicle and read a book. It means Tamir Rice can play with a toy gun, Sandra Bland can mouth off at a police officer, Michael Brown and Eric Garner can be suspects of a crime and all of them — all of us — can expect to live through an experience with a police officer. When that changed, we the people had/have the right to abolish the government that threatens our “Safety And Happiness.” The police have moved from being social workers or moved from being a finger on a hand of the judicial system to being the whole judicial system — judge, jury and executioner. And unless you are a police officer who is a black male, a woman or a white male who murdered another white male, you will not suffer any recourse but will be rewarded for a “clean kill” or “choke hold.” In a sense, the police have become our government on the street.

I had a conversation with Georgie over at the Davey Lopes Center the other day and he asked me, “What was you doing standing up to the police? I respect your decision, I know you were in the right, but I am trying to teach these kids to get home safe, everyday, and you are standing up for your rights showing them something different.” Mind you, Georgie has my utmost respect. We stood there speaking as men. Dare I say free men. So I respect his message. If these cops are really trying to kill us, and right now that seems to be a legit statement, his job is to ensure the safety of our future, meaning those kids. What kind of America do we live in when one of the greatest documents ever written, for all people born on this land, can not be taken advantage of by all people born on this land due to skin color?