I have trouble taking Colin Kaepernick seriously.

Yes, I am white and can never understand the struggle that my black brothers, sisters and others go through on a daily basis, but still, I cannot take him seriously.

I cannot take his salary seriously, I cannot take his attitude seriously, and I cannot take his timing seriously.

Granted, Kaepernick can do whatever he feels like doing. He has no obligation to stand for the national anthem, nor does anyone else, but as he does, I can’t help but question his motives. Where a person chooses to donate his money is his business, but for someone making $12 million next year alone, his paltry $1 million donation does not match the volume of the statement he is making by not standing for the national anthem.

He is planning on donating money from his jersey sales, but compared to the stir he raised, all of this seems no more than a drop in the bucket.

Violence against blacks has been in the news for some time and for him to (not) stand up now and declare that this is the time for action casts an undeniable shadow of a doubt upon his intentions. Never before have we heard anything on the matter

Without any words, he brought oppression of minorities into the national conversation, and once again, brought to a boil the tempers of millions of people on both sides of the issue.

Kaepernick could have followed the steps of other football stars such as Pat Tillman and Glen Coffee who joined the armed forces to show their stand on a national issue.  They sacrificed

incredible salaries in the process of protecting the system that makes multi-million dollar salaries like Kaepernick’s possible.

Its is a system that, while perhaps not perfect, promotes and allows for growth. Its is a system that, while sometimes in name alone, mandates that all people be treated like equal, and for Colin Kaepernick to use his influence to bring down what many feel brings us together, appears to me to be a statement of selfishness and privilege.

It is the national anthem that brings us together. To exploit that fact would be disastrous for an already fragile nation.

Kaepernick has been in the NFL for years now.  Never before had he said or done anything about the injustices in this country, and now all of this seems to be coming from left field.

The cynic sees this as merely a way to draw attention to himself as the 49ers move past the star quarterback towards Blaine Gabbert.

He never named an intended receiver for his donation, nor did he come up with an offensive strategy to deal with the issues he is protesting.

Without a clear game plan as to how he feels this country should begin to deal with the problem of police brutality, one cannot help but believe that his protest falls flat and has no direction.