Social Issues and Protests

Let me start this by saying this, it's my opinion.  It's how I'm viewing this.  This is my perspective.  If you do not like it, that's fine.  I completely understand.  The last thing the world needs is another pointless opinion that will probably just add fuel to the fire.  But a lot has been happening not only in the college football world, but all over sports (It's also happening in the real world and I will most likely make that connection in this at some point but at the moment sports blog = sports issues).  I'm not here to say "hey guys, I have the solution to the problem!" or "I know how to fix this."  I'm just here to address the issues and discuss them in a civil manner.  So as we all may know, many protests have been happening all over the United States.  Some in the sports world, and some outside of it. What made me want to talk about this subject was the recent post game protest at Eastern Michigan. Three days before the game, "racial graffiti" was spray painted onto one of the campus buildings. According to the school, the graffiti mentioned the "KKK" and had a "racial epithet."   There was also a "racial slur" found in the stairwell of a building as well.  This led to campus-wide protests and 150 students marched to the home of Eastern Michigan President James Smith and also "peacefully" discussed the idea of the field protest during the game with him.  So right after the game, students took to the field, and along with some players, marched across the field chanting "No justice! No peace!"  The investigation is underway to find out the culprit of the graffiti and at the moment the chant does speak for itself, until the culprit is found (so at the moment there is no justice) there students will continue to protest (no peace).  So now this incident ties into what's been going on in the rest of the US and that is sitting during the national anthem due to "racial oppression."  It began when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was seen sitting during the national anthem of the USA.  When asked about it, Kaepernick said "I am not going to stand up and show pride for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.  To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.  There are bodies in the street and people are getting paid leave and getting away with murder."  Yes, there have been a lot of shootings involving African Americans and police officers.  But to me, its not the country as a whole that oppresses African Americans and people of color.  I don't even know if "oppress" is the right word for it.  There was a time when African Americans and people of color were oppressed in America.  But I believe we, as a country, have gotten passed that.  However there are still some people who haven't.  And some of them gladly voice that because of their first amendment right.  What I'm trying to say here is America, as a whole, isn't oppressing African Americans and people of color, it is certain people in this very diverse country, who believe in what the past generations have believed.  Beliefs and traditions are passed down.  Some people over the years grow out of them.  Some stick to them.  It's just the way things work.  It's complicated.  The same thing with police officers.  Not all police officers are racist.  But some just happen to be.  Everyone has their own beliefs, traditions, and way of thinking.  Everyone is unique.  As much as we want to, we just can't all agree.  Some people think their ideas are better and want to use and say them,  Racism is really bad but taking away someones right of free speech is as well. We can't just tell someone they're wrong and expect them to change.   Can we change someone? How do we change someone?  And can we actually put an end to all the racism and protests? These are some of the many questions that are asked. And for now, they remained unanswered.