> And incidentally “The Star-Spangled Banner” is as much a patriotic song as it is a diss track to black people who had the audacity to fight for their freedom. Perhaps that’s why it took almost 100 years for the song to become the national anthem. Just read the words to the third verse of the song.

Victor, that's being offered as an excuse for Colin Kaepernick's actions. It's very debatable history (and IMO, a poor excuse)

One of the reasons for the War of 1812 was the British impressment of American sailors into service - kidnapping them and forcing them to work on board British ships.

The terms “slave”, "hireling", and “mercenary" were used in multiple contexts, including as a metaphor for bringing under control by force by a foreign monarch.

So it's not a settled argument (not by a long shot) what that third verse was about, especially after reading the entire first and second and third verses.

Now, here's what's more important: Kaepernick has pledged to donate the first million of his earnings this year to different charities. If he keeps his word, I'll view that action as a million times more important than sitting out the National Anthem. If he doesn't keep his word, I hope the mainstream media covers it as aggressively as they covered the Trump stories on his pledge promises.