The Right to Stand up for Your Beliefs

The Right to Stand Up for Your Beliefs

Martin Luther King, Frederick Douglas, and Muhammad Ali are all famed individuals who took a stand against racial injustice here in America, even in spite of any criticism they faced. Recently another famed individual, known as Colin Kaepernick, has sparked controversy by also choosing to protest against this same issue, by refraining to participate in the national anthem before nationally televised football games. Many critics say that it is not right of Kaepernick to do this and that it is just an un american act of ignorance. Unlike these critics, I personally believe that it is Kaepernick’s right to do this and agree with his actions, as they coincide with American ideals because as Americans it is our obligation to crusade against any type of injustice, especially racial injustice, as it is against the ideals that our country was founded on and letting the issue persist would decrease our quality of life. Therefore as an American myself, I feel morally obliged to stand by Kaepernick’s protest.

Imagine living in a world where horrible injustices occurred on a daily basis and you couldn’t do anything about it. Imagine this world being a place where people lacked the dikes of courage to stand up against injustice because floods of fear held them back. Does this sound like a world you’d like to live in? Not allowing Kaepernick and all those similar to him, march against racial prejudice, would serve as the pathway into a world just as the one described. In order to not let the world we live in stoop to that low point, we must support those who are merely standing up against the things that plague our world, just as Kaepernick is doing. Kaepernick is right in his actions as he is simply using his right to a freedom of speech, as any other American should have the right to do, as suppressing free speech would be a double wrong.

Our founding fathers once uttered that all men are to be created equal. We as Americans should still find this statement to be evident in our lives today. Do America’s ideals include being hypocritical, because that’s what we will be once we start depriving Kaepernick and other citizens of their right to speak out against racial inequality.