Up Next
An open letter from American military veterans in support of Colin Kaepernick
There are veterans who not only agree with Kaepernick’s right to protest, but also with how he did it
U.S. Army veteran Richard Allen Smith felt like he was walking with a rock in his shoe all day. In the aftermath of Colin Kaepernick’s protest of the national anthem, Smith heard a lot about how he had been disrespected by what the San Francisco 49ers quarterback had done and said from a lot of folks who never served in the armed forces.
Kaepernick has been sitting during the singing of The Star Spangled Banner the entire preseason, although it was only noticed last Friday when he was dressed to play. In an exclusive interview with NFL.com’s Steve Wyche, Kaepernick explained his protest: “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.”
Smith said that people burning the quarterback’s jersey “with the troops and veterans being the reason seemed ridiculous.” Being used wasn’t a new feeling. Smith said politicians and corporations often use the military and its servicemen and women for promotion. That leaves some veterans, like Smith, feeling like props for people who haven’t made the sacrifice, but want to cloak themselves in their credibility.
By writing this letter, which was written on Medium, it was an opportunity for him and other vets to counter that rationale. Although the 31-year-old works as a media strategist with the National Education Association, the letter was thought of, created and crafted as something entirely outside of his job and among some of Smith’s friends and colleagues.
One of the most important things about the letter is the diversity of the people signing it and the reasons that they are putting their names on it.
“I wanted to put something out there in the world … to say that ‘There are veterans who not only agree with Colin Kaepernick’s right to do that, but also agree with the substance of the action,’ ” Smith said. “And are willing to stand up and say Black Lives Matter and this is an important issue that we need to address in our country.
“This is an incredibly diverse list of people. I didn’t know how many signatures I was going to get – if I’m going to get five or 10 signatures on this letter. … There’s diversity in service – every branch of the service is represented here – there are black people, white people, Latinos, a Native American person on here. Gay veterans, straight veterans, female veterans, male veterans from both coast to southeast, to southwest, the heartland, pretty much any sort of identity you can imagine, it’s signed onto this letter in the form of one person or more.”
In 1947, former Army officer Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball. Robinson experienced taunts, epithets, and threats of violence for simply standing up to the status quo of segregation in America.
Since 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick engaged in a silent protest to bring attention to the state of emergency facing people of color in America, a chorus of detractors have lined up to denounce his stand, or more accurately his sit. Fans have burned his jersey. A presidential candidate suggested he leave the country. Many have claimed his protest disrespected American veterans.
Jackie Robinson isn’t here today to tell us what he would think of Kaepernick’s protest. But he did convey the same sentiment about the national anthem as Kaepernick in his 1972 autobiography, writing, “I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a black man in a white world.”
As military veterans, we write to express our support for the tradition of advocacy by athletes that is embodied by Jackie Robinson and carried on by Colin Kaepernick.
For generations, American athletes have used their public voice to force our collective attention towards the crises and issues that challenge our national conscience. Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Tommie Smith, John Carlos, Ariyana Smith, the Minnesota Lynx, the Missouri Tigers football team, and stars across professional sports declaring that #BlackLivesMatter, are all part of a brave tradition of protest by athletes. Far from an anomaly, athletes leading on social change has been the norm in America. The right for those athletes, and all Americans, to protest is one we all pledged to defend with our lives if necessary. Far from disrespecting our troops, there is no finer form of appreciation for our sacrifice than for Americans to enthusiastically exercise their freedom of speech.
While we would not all personally choose to protest in a manner identical to Kaepernick, we respect and honor his choice, and whole heartedly join him in stating unequivocally that BLACK LIVES MATTER. The current state of affairs for people of color in America is unsustainable and unacceptable. According to analysis by the Washington Post, black people in America are two and a half times more likely to be shot and killed by police than white Americans. Far too often, people of color are dying at the hands of law enforcement personnel in the streets, our jails, and their homes. Indictments are rare and convictions are essentially nonexistent.
This status quo outrages us as men and women who raised our right hands and pledged to defend, with our lives if necessary, a Constitution that proclaims intent to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility,” and “secure the Blessings of Liberty.” Those ideals are simply not being upheld for all Americans.
As veterans, we implore all Americans to find your own way to challenge this status quo and advocate for “a more perfect union.” Your method of protest may not be to refrain from the traditions surrounding our national symbols, and it doesn’t have to be. You have the same right as Colin Kaepernick to choose whether and how to advocate, a right we support and served for. However you choose to use your voice, please do so with an understanding that many veterans do not condemn the protest of activists like Jackie Robinson, Colin Kaepernick and everyday Americans seeking justice. Indeed, we see no higher form of patriotism.
Eric Baker
United States Army Veteran
Bill Barton
United States Air Force Veteran
Robert Bateman
United States Army Veteran
Operation Enduring Freedom
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Jason Bensley
United States Army Veteran
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Stephen Benson
United States Navy Veteran
Vietnam War
Keith Boyea
United States Air Force Veteran
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Operation Enduring Freedom
Xavier Burgos
United States Army Veteran
Operation Enduring Freedom
Tony Camerino
United States Air Force Veteran
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Stephanie Driessel
United States Army Veteran
Operation Iraqi Freedom
LeighAnn Dunn
United States Army Veteran
Operation Iraqi Freedom
David Ramiro Duran
United States Army Veteran
Robin Eckstein
United States Army Veteran
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Rick Hegdahl
United States Navy Veteran
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Chris Holman
United States Army Veteran
Melanie Howie
United States Air Force Veteran
Mitchell Howie
United States Air Force Veteran
Keith Jeffreys
United States Army Veteran
Tara Jones
United States Navy Veteran
Gulf War Era
Jason Macon
United States Marine Corps Veteran
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Lamar Mapp
United States Army Veteran
Operation Enduring Freedom
Brian McGough
United States Army Veteran
Operation Enduring Freedom
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Neal McGough
United States Army Veteran
Operation Enduring Freedom
Andrew Nixon
United States Army Veteran
Operation Enduring Freedom
Parker Ormsby
United States Army Veteran
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Operation Enduring Freedom
Matt Osborne
United States Army Veteran
Jackie Rodgers
United States Army Veteran
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Terron Sims II
United States Army Veteran
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Richard Allen Smith
United States Army Veteran
Operation Enduring Freedom
Shannon Smyth
United States Air Force Veteran
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Ryan Sullivan
United States Army Veteran
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Operation Enduring Freedom
Mike Stark
United States Marine Corps Veteran
Armondo Telles
United States Marine Corps Veteran
Catherine Trombley
United States Air Force Veteran
Colm Walker
United Staes Army Veteran
Operation Enduring Freedom
Bobby Wise
United States Army Veteran
Operation Iraqi Freedom