NFL football national anthem protest on Sept 29, 2016 . Source: Marcio Sanchez (AP)

I knew that Kaepernick (centre) was planning to take a stand during the national anthem at this game [between the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys] because he’d done it a few weeks earlier. He had said he was trying to make a statement about the oppression of people of colour, particularly by police. My focus was on taking the best technical image that I could. That meant being really close to the athletes – closer than I would be comfortable with, and closer than I am officially allowed to be, as only the team photographer has permission to be in that area. I discreetly walked over thinking a team official would stop me, but nobody did, so I just kept going. I took this shot from a kneeling position, just a few feet away from my subjects.

There was a sense of tension and sadness among the athletes. This is an issue they are divided on – some support him, like the two teammates who joined him (Eli Harold and Eric Reid), but others are against his stance. It was a very quiet and sombre mood. I didn’t get emotionally involved because I know that, as a professional, it gets in the way of recording the moment. If I let my own biases affect me on an issue as polarising as this then I won’t tell the story properly, so over the years I have learned to detach myself.

I’m an immigrant – I’m from Honduras and moved to the US when I was 13 – and I’ve noticed that professional athletes here seem to mirror what is going on socially in the country. I was aware of the historic significance of the moment and that it was my mission to document it. Kaepernick continues to kneel during the national anthem, and says he’ll stop when he feels progress has been made. I look forward to taking that photograph.

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Obama discusses Kaepernick's anthem protest . Source: CNN


President Barack Obama said at a CNN presidential town hall Wednesday that he respected Colin Kaepernick's decision not to stand during the national anthem.

The San Francisco 49ers quarterback started the protest last month after he sat during the national anthem for a preseason game, saying he would not "show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color."

Since then, other professional athletes have also chosen not to stand for the national anthem, sparking a national debate.

 

A member of the audience at the town hall, which was moderated by CNN's Jake Tapper, asked what the President thought about Kaepernick's protest.

 

"Lately, some players in the NFL have been choosing to take a knee during the national anthem, a time which I believe should be reserved to respect our service members," the man said. "As commander in chief, how do you feel about those NFL players choosing this respected time to voice their opinions?"

 

Obama responded: "Well, as I've said before, I believe that us honoring our flag and our anthem is part of what binds us together as a nation. But I also always try to remind folks that part of what makes this country special is that we respect people's rights to have a different opinion."

Obama added that he believes protesters should be aware that the reason they are able to share their opinions are because people "fight" for them to be able to do so.

 

"The test of our fidelity to our Constitution, to freedom of speech, to our Bill of Rights, is not when it's easy, but when it's hard," he said. "We fight sometimes so that people can do"

 

The President also continued that it is important for "everybody to listen to each other."

 

"I want (the protesters) to listen to the pain that that may cause somebody who, for example, had a spouse or a child who was killed in combat and why it hurts them to see somebody not standing," Obama said. "But I also want people to think about the pain he may be expressing about somebody who's lost a loved one that they think was unfairly shot."

 

Earlier this month, Obama made similar comments about the quarterback, saying he was "exercising his constitutional right" by not standing for the national anthem.

 

"I got to confess that I haven't been thinking about football while I've been over here and I haven't been follow this closely," Obama said September 5 during a news conference at the conclusion of the G20 summit in China. "But my understanding, at least, is that is he's exercising his constitutional right to make a statement. I think there's a long history of sports figures doing so."