Burges High School Football Player Takes A Knee In Protest During National Anthem

A Burges High School football player decided to take a knee during last Friday’s game, mimicking San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick who says he won’t show respect for the flag of the nation he feels has disrespected African Americans. Burges’ football coach James Routledge said he didn’t know that his player was going to take a knee during the National Anthem. He also said he wouldn’t comment further because, "It's one of those things that comes down to the individual's rights."

Some students at Burges say the player’s action was disrespectful but others said they didn’t have a problem with the protest because he has a right to do it.

The El Paso Independent School District does not plan on addressing the protest because the school respects their students freedom of expression.

Freedom of expression if everyone’s right, and at Monday night’s NFL game between the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints, the players had a demonstration of their own. Both teams joined hands and formed a large circle in the middle of the field after the National Anthem. Both teams coaches knew what their players had planned.

To me, that is a protest. There is an awareness of a problem, and everyone is working together to understand it and each other. Taking a knee might bring awareness, but Kaepernick has done nothing to reach out to law enforcement to figure out how to fix this problem. If you aren't willing to be a part of the solution, you are only kneeling in the way of those who are.