it's a perennial feature of american life since the dawn of the country, but i'd say the events of 2014 were a big part of it. that's the year a police officer shot and killed 18-year-old michael brown in ferguson, missouri. that results in huge protests in that city, but also across the country and those protests was part of what inspired the then quarterback of the san francisco 49ers, colin kaepernick, to remain seated during the national anthem during the 2016 preseason. he explained quote, i'm not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. to me, this is bigger than official and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. there are bodies in the street, people getting paid leave and getting away with murder. kaepernick started getting bad backlash for sitting including from a former player named nate boyar. kaepernick reached out to him and boyar suggested taking a