Think before condemning Kaepernick

All right-minded Americans must think before condemning Colin Kaepernick for refusing to stand up when the National Anthem is sung. No doubt the flag is sacred, and thousands of Americans have sacrificed their lives in its defense. However, even more sacred than the flag is the pledge of allegiance to the lofty spirit for which it stands: Liberty and equal justice for all.

When apprehending those suspected of a crime, the job of the police is to arrest them, and not to punish them. When suspects are arrested, the prosecutor's job is to assure fair trials, not to conceal evidence that might exonerate them. When suspects are found guilty, the judge's job is to pass sentences to fit the convicts' crimes, not their skin color.

Over the years too many innocent people have been punished, killed or even executed because law enforcement officials disrespected the flag by violating the dictum "equal justice under the law." When the institutions established to protect and serve the innocents fail in their duty, people such as Kaepernick, display their disgust by indulging in protests such as disrespecting the flag, risking all-round condemnation and loss of income.

People who protest against injustice are doing great service to humanity. That is what all great men in history did at great personal sacrifice -- Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Muhammad Ali, to mention only a few. Those who tolerate injustice to one merely pave the path for injustice to all.

P.S. Kamath, Cape Girardeau