The Oakland Raiders’ Marshawn Lynch now joins the ranks of non-standing athletes in the NFL as a sign of protest.
When an athlete in the NFL sits or gets down to one knee during the National Anthem it’s usually to protest police brutality and racism.
Lynch isn’t the first to stay down in protest. San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick started this during the 2016 season.
Ever since Kaepernick started this trend, many have questioned his stance and even if he is right to take a stand against police brutality and racism.
Many events in the last 4 years have made people reopen the topic of present day racism like several instances of police brutality and blatant racial profiling.
Some like Lynch are receiving unqualified support.
In an interview with Conan O’Brien before he came out of retirement Lynch said: “I’d rather see him (Kaepernick) take a knee than stand up, put his hands up and get murdered.”
The interview happened in September 2016 and remained away from major spotlight events until Lynch’s return.
Lynch wasn’t an active NFL athlete at the time of Kaepernick’s protests.
“My take on it is, [stuff], it gotta start somewhere and if that was the starting point, I just hope people open up their eyes and see that it’s really a problem going on and something needs to be done for it to stop. If you really not racist, then you won’t see what [Kaepernick is] doing as a threat to America, but just addressing a problem that we have,” Lynch added to further his support to this cause.” s aid Lynch according to the Washington Post in early August Even former President Barack Obama agreed with Kaepernick’s right to protest.
“I don’t doubt his sincerity, I think he cares about some real, legitimate issues that have to be talked about. If nothing else, he’s generated more conversation about issues that have to be talked about,” said Obama in his second term in office.
Although Kaepernick received criticism from all sides for his decisions on protesting, Lynch has not received any repercussions and even had his coach agree with his decision.
“I talked to Marshawn to make sure we’re on the same page,” said Raiders’ head coach Jack Del Rio. “ I very strongly believe in standing for the national anthem.”
Keapernick’s protest displays were not the only things he has done to help his cause.
The Colin Keapernick Foundation is a non-profit organization to go against racism and other forms of oppression.
Various methods are used to achieve this goal like education of all races and social activism.
