San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, chose to sit down during the national anthem before the preseason game on Aug. 26, against the Packers. He continues his protest and now has gone a step further as to kneel. “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder,” Kaepernick said, according to NFL.com.

I will make it clear: I am against Kaepernick and his actions. He has brought social justice issues to the NFL. The NFL does not take sides in issues as complex as this one. It is so complex that the NFL released a statement saying, “players are encouraged, but not required, to stand during the national anthem.” When was the last time anyone sat down for the national anthem? Never. The NFL’s decision not to intervene has caused this publicity stunt to gain lots of attention. #VeteransforKaepernick was a top trending tweet, multiple other players have sat down too and Kaepernick’s jersey became the top-selling jersey on the NFL’s website.

My problem with Kaepernick’s actions is not deeply rooted in what he is sitting down for. I would be a fool to say that there is no racism in America, and that police have handled every criminal they have ever encountered in a perfectly ethical way. There is a problem in America and Kaepernick has made sure we all know that racism is alive and breathing in our society. Thanks Colin.

Kaepernick has made his stance clear on how he feels about the police when he wore socks that had images of pigs wearing police hats to practice. He is against the police and hates how they operate. This is creating a bigger gap between civilians and police across the country. Kaepernick’s arguments can all be traced back to the Black Lives Matter movement. The movement started after a series of unfortunate events involving police officers taking civilian lives causing uproar in some cities.

Video footage of police killing black men has made it to the top of our social media homepages. How should we interpret videos that depict the police killing civilians? It is very important to understand that these videos can be examined for evidence, but justice is not served in these videos. The police have the right to defend themselves and that should be respected. If the police are faced with a situation like this, they need to be taken away from their job and then give testimony as to what happened.

Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Imagine what the police officer would say if you asked him: Why did you shoot that person? In many of these cases, police are acquitted from these cases because of the complex nature of how the laws that govern policing work. If you were the police officer, when would you pull out your gun? So why won’t Kaepernick stand up for all of those treated unfairly? Kaepernick is focusing his energy in the wrong place. Every time he kneels, he is a constant reminder that he believes his country is full of racists. When will he stand up? Racism can never be eradicated. Sitting down is literally the one thing that shows you are doing nothing.