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Unlike many if not most "conscious" Black people in the United States, I consider myself an American. Many claim we are not real Americans because of how we are treated or say that we are just Africans IN America and love to use the analogy Malcolm X made about kittens in an oven. I disagree and say we are just as American if not MORE American than even the average White American because our roots go back much deeper in this nation. Not only are we American constitutionally speaking.....but by virtue of being born on this land, having dozens of generations of ancestry in this land, and most of us having some Native American ancestry. I don't think it was a good move for Kaepernick to protest the American flag because not only does it NOT solve the racial problems in America, it actually exacerbates them and angers a lot of non-White and non-Black people around the world as well as inside of the U.S. who see him as ungrateful for the opportunities this nation has given him. Many of these people know that if he would do that in THEIR country he would be imprisoned or even worse. I totally understand where he's coming from and I respect his right to do what he did, but you have to really sit down and think about what you're doing, why you're doing it, and most importantly what results you're trying to achieve. If he intended to piss off a lot of White people....he achieved that. But if he intended to bring attention to the race problem in America.....that wasn't necessary because everyone KNOWS there is a race problem in America. If his intention was to help Black people in some way.....how? Again, not beating up on the brother for what he did because he didn't hurt anyone and he exercised his right.....but how does THIS help in any way? Black people have always known there was a race problem in America so doing this isn't making them more aware than they already are. As far as his Egyptian girlfriend goes......... I'm looking at her and looking at him. He may be mixed but he certainly doesn't look Black, he looks like an Arab. I'm willing to be that she doesn't even see him as a Black man so she probably is dating him because he looks like the Arab Egyptian men she's used to being around. Racism exists in Egypt as intensley as it does in the United States between the native Black Egyptians (Nubians) and the Arabs, Persians, and other Caucasians who invaded that land centuries ago. I wonder does SHE protest her own nation's race problem the way Kaepernick protests his own.....or does she do like most Arabs and deny the anti-Black racism that exists in the Middle East?

OK, Troy, here's your lunch!. Social media is all "a-twitter" over the latest flavor of the week, an uproar stemming from NFL bi-racial quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s choosing to sulk on the bench instead of standing up during the traditional flag raising ceremony that accompanied a rendition of the national anthem at a preseason football game last week The explanation he gave to avid reporters crowding the San Francisco 49er's locker room after the incident, was something to the effect that America is mistreating its citizens of color and this is his way of protesting injustice. Kaepernick is the offspring of a single white mother and an absentee black father and was given up for adoption to a white couple whose surname he took. So the "brother" obviously has issues Anyway, reaction was immediate. Patriotic white fans are burning their jerseys in outrage and posting the videos of them doing this on line. Football purists are reprimanding Kaepernick for committing the cardinal sin of not making his team the priority by creating a distraction that could interfere with winning games! Players all over the league are straddling the fence, but everybody has an opinion. Pro and con arguments abound, ranging from how people died defending the flag Kaepernick dishonored, to how he is exercising the freedom the flag symbolizes by speaking up for what's right. Many feel he should protest on his own time! As usual, the racial lines are being drawn. Having never been a flag-waving, American cheerleader, myself, I side with Colin even after I learned more about his back story. Kaepernick has recently converted to the islamic faith of his girlfriend, leading me to believe that this is what influenced his angry gesture. I have little use for organized religion, in general, and the Muslim one in particular which I regard as stealthy, dogmatic, and misogynistic. Personally, I'd have no objection if this bearded, disgruntled, pigskin passer who looks like a candidate for an Isis bomb thrower, would just fold up his tent, and fly away on a magic carpet with his Arabian sweetie-pie. I know I'm being prejudiced and irrational, but I don't care. Why should white people have all the fun? So far, Colin Kaepernick has not been officially penalized or banned from remaining seated during the national anthem, a gesture he intends to continue doing, but undoubtedly subtle repercussions will begin to kick in. Americans are such sports nuts, and athletes so idolized that who'd have thought these jocks would start risking their futures by taking to the arena of protest to speak out against racism? I concede that those doing so are worthy of praise, and more power to them. The 2 black Olympic track stars who raised their fists in a black power salute during the medal ceremony back in 1968 must be proud of them.