Ever since Colin Kaepernick took the knee for the national anthem, it has become a national controversy of whether that was appropriate, disrespectful, or heroic. It was interesting during the Coffee Chat, as we had Angela Cornell, a professor at our Law School who specializes in labor law, speak to us about the legality of his actions. Although we at first argued that Colin and other football players have the right to voice their opinion and/or silently protest because they are protected under the first amendment, Ms. Cornell said that when one is employed under the private sector, their first amendment rights are somewhat not protected. This, I was not aware of and I found it interesting and understandable, as the NFL saw their business being punished due to the protesting. Another point to this was brought up, as someone mentioned that if that’s the case then Kaepernick is always on the clock (i.e. Public figure on twitter, instagram, etc.) thus, he would never, in theory, be able to voice his personal opinions or protest. Although this talk was very interesting, I felt that the most unfortunate thing about this was the miscommunication that’s going on with the reason for the protest. Trump, of course, is a large part as to why many Americans believe that Kaepernick is purposefully disrespecting veterans by kneeling. But that’s not the purpose of his protest. Kaepernick, himself, on many occasions, has made it clear that the reason for his kneeling during the anthem is that he can’t stand for a country that continues to oppress black people and people of color. It’s fine that there is a national controversy over this subject, but before we start a debate, it’s important to understand the true reason as to why Kaepernick started kneeling in the first place.