At first, we all thought that political issues get handled in the Washington, D.C., or in between elected officials.. But in this day and time, various athletes have begun to take these political issues into their own hands.

Former San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Colin Kaepernick is the most prominent athlete using his fame as a professional athlete to bring attention to issues surrounding police brutality. He has done so by sitting during the National Anthem due to his disapproval in the way minorities have been treated by the law enforcement.

Because he started his protest by sitting on the bench during the an- them, a former Green Beret, Nate Boyer reached out to Kaepernick letting him know that he thought sitting was disrespectful. is lead to Kaepernick starting a conversation with him and ended in Boyer convincing Kaepernick to kneel during the anthem instead of sitting on the bench. After Kaepernick started kneeling and he received even more criticism, Boyer wrote a second letter directed to “every single American.” He makes clear that he believes people should stop fighting about this controversy.

“No more choosing sides, no more ‘for or against.’ I believe our Veterans will be called upon to lead the way in healing the world and solving its problems; right now our country needs that more than I can remember,” he wrote.

Ever since then, Kaepernick has sparked a flame all across the National Football League, in a way of them also taking a knee during the National Anthem. Kaepernick is not doing this with any intentions of being disrespectful, he is just voicing his opinion in his own unique way.

As I said previously, kneeling during the National Anthem has become a worldwide movement. Other NFL players have hopped on the bandwagon, helping Kaepernick voice his opinion and their own, as well. Denver Broncos Linebacker Brandon Marshall and Oakland Raiders Running Back Marshawn Lynch have done their own rituals to help Kaepernick on his protest.

With both of them including other players around the NFL, taking a seat when the National Anthem is played, has caught the attention of President Donald Trump spoke on the issue saying, “The NFL is showing total disrespect to our great country” which in some ways I can understand why President Trump feels this way.

But at the same time, he is not understanding nor listening to any of the players and the reasons why they are behaving in this manner. In my opinion, Colin Kaepernick and the other NFL Players, are in the right.

Growing up as a young African American male can be hard. We face the challenge of dealing with the fact that we could be killed just for pulling our drivers license out of our pockets or we could be harassed for no reason other than the color of our skin.

But not only should we have a voice because of how we are being treated but also for the sacrifice these players are making. In a way, it seems hypocritical. We are fine with these athletes sacrificing their bodies to play a sport we love watching, but suddenly we have an issue when the people we love watching, disagree with the way people in the community are being treated?