Take a Stand?

When Colin Kaepernick first sat during the national anthem prior to an American football preseason game, the public was unphased; no one noticed. The press then got involved, and when asked why he did not stand, Kaepernick responded by telling America, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”

His actions, or rather lack of actions, became news after the third time he did not stand; when he kneeled. This is when America showed its political division once more.

President Trump, along with some NFL owners came out against kneeling during the anthem, while many players took a knee.

After seeing athletes punished for expressing what they believe to be their right, it seemed appropriate to look at how Hall High would handle the kneeling of players before a game.

Jason Siegel, the West Hartford Public Schools Athletic director, when asked about whether or not a student would be punished if they kneeled, said, “No… they have the first amendment right, freedom of speech, as long as it doesn’t cause a disturbance to the school environment.”

Jeff Billing, the varsity boys cross country coach as well as the varsity baseball coach also commented on this issue. While he shared largely the same answers with Siegel, Billing did have some commentary on the subject. “…while I have a ton of respect for our country and our flag and certainly our military, I think it’s important that we all try to understand why someone would feel so strongly as to kneel at a time when we’re trying to honor our country.”

Billing then goes on to talk about how it is important to discuss the reason people feel so strongly about something that they would kneel, instead of solely talking about whether or not they should be allowed to kneel. Instead of saying you can’t kneel, Billing’s thought is to say to the person, “Wow. That’s a pretty bold thing you’re doing. Why are you doing that, and what can we change in society to make you not feel so strongly?”

So now what?

As stated earlier, understanding why people feel a certain way is necessary, rather than telling them how to feel. Communication is one of the most important things in our society, and we can’t afford to lose that in a time where we have such easy access to communication.

Try to understand where people are coming from, and our school, town, and country can be a better place.

Billing closed by stating, “I wish the conversation around this was about why are they protesting and what can we do to make them feel not so diminished as human beings and as citizens of our country?” However, just a Kaepernick did, sometimes you need to sit down for what you believe in.