On Aug. 26, 2016 49er’s quarterback Colin Kaepernick made his first waves for sitting during the National Anthem while it was sung during a preseason game.

The protest originated with Colin’s disdain for the number of police fatalities that have been front page news over the last few years, almost all of which involved unarmed or unaggressive young black men being gunned down by white officers.

Over a year later, every team in the National Football League has been under tight scrutiny because of the growing number of players that have offered their support to Kaepernick and his reason for sitting during the anthem.

Due to this, the issue about racism in general and its attention has grown exponentially after being zeroed in on by President Trump who called for the fining, suspending and firing of football players that protest during the National Anthem.

On Sept. 22, President Trump shouted “Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, he’s fired. He’s fired!” during a Republican rally in Alabama in regards to football players that refuse to stand with their hands over their hearts while the “Star-Spangled Banner” is being performed.

Players and teams continued to stand for what they believed in after this, such as the Pittsburgh Steelers, who on Sept. 24, 2017, chose to remain in the locker room until the anthem was over.

There have also been a variety of protests during the National Anthem from around the Nation’s leagues. This has been mirrored in NCAA games, high school games, the NBA, and even J.T. Brown, a forward for the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, raised his fist in support of the “Star-Spangled Banner” protests on Oct. 8.

Most recently, Houston Texans owner Bob McNair said during an owner’s meeting and in response to other owner’s handling of players that do protest, “we can’t have the inmates running the prison.” Despite the disgusting implications of such a comment, league owners have, as of yet, refrained from enforcing any sort of right conduct during the National Anthem.

In response to McNair on this last Sunday, former receiver Randy Moss said “they [team owners] own the team, they don’t own the players.”

Peaceful protest and the right to speak up about any sort of social injustice is anyone’s right. Clearly, starting with Colin’s first solitary demonstration, the issue of inequality and prejudices within very high levels of league and national administrations has been blown wide open.