Colin Kaepernick in the Philosophy Classroom...

Colin Kaepernick is a multi-millionaire, NFL quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. He recently made headlines by refusing to stand for the U.S. National Anthem before the start of NFL games. Lot of people have impassioned opinions on the acceptability of his refusal to stand, even a Supreme Court Justice, who eventually apologized for the remark, have been critical of him.

Last week, one of my students asked me about Kaepernick during class. This was one of those teachable moments we all really look for. Philosophy in the real world making a difference! I said unless someone really understood his reasoning, they couldn’t be critical of the refusal to stand. The student pressed me on my view…

Here was my response: I don’t have any issue with Kaepernick’s refusal to stand even though I understand why some people might. To really understand Kaepernick, however, you have to understand, that there is another First Amendment right, other than free speech, he is trying to exercise, namely: petitioning the government for a redress of grievances. Kaepernick believes that police violence, particularly against blacks, is excessive, and he wants the government to do something about it. That seems a reasonable thing to ask, in my view, and protest as petition isn’t that strange philosophically. I ended by telling the student that I hoped a white NFL player would kneel alongside Kaepernick during The Star-Spangled Banner, and that police violence would in some way be radically diminished.

For those interested in the stats on police violence, this is a good resource: http://mappingpoliceviolence.org

I am opening up comments for discussion on how others have discussed this issue with their philosophy students. Please stay on topic.