Lately some athletes across the country have been kneeling during the national anthem as a peaceful protest.

It started with 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick during preseason games and has been growing ever since to colleges, high schools, and more. The protest is for racial equality and to bring an end to discrimination.

However, this is extremely disrespectful to our country and those who fight for it. Veterans, those fallen, and currently serving have risked their lives for us. They have lost brothers, friends, and/or their lives and NFL players, students, and athletes don’t have the decency to stand for roughly two minutes to pay their respect.

Of course, everyone is entitled to their rights. So it is completely legal to say or do whatever you want in such circumstances.

But who got you those rights?

The military and government fought hard to ensure that everyone has freedom and rights and that many Americans unfortunately take advantage of this everyday.

People in other countries are living in poverty and are scared to go outside because of the violence that might take place. I know that people are discriminated against and have a hard time, but that doesn’t make it okay to ignore all the great things America has to offer.

We have many rights that foreign families only dream of; we have the freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.

I can’t even imagine what military families are going through. When people in the military are on leave or pass away, their families are left to worry or grieve. That national anthem serves as a reminder of what their loved ones stood for and see all the people that respect them. The protests must be extremely rude and disrespectful to them.

I understand people speaking their mind. That’s how our country came to be. America is a dream world is because of the First Amendment and the five freedoms it acknowledges.

However, the national anthem is not the time to make a protest. There are many ways to conduct a peaceful protest without insulting the military and their families such as a protest in the streets.

People that feel discriminated against can walk along the streets and show all the things they think is unfair.

Society will begin to notice that we need a change. But a different approach should be taken to spread the word about inequality as the decision Kaepernick and others are making isn’t the way to go about it.