ETA 2: For those who are claiming that you legitimately wonder what players protesting have done for the communities they believe are oppressed, here - let me Google that for you, Savannah:
http://kaepernick7.com/million-dollar-pledge/
If you would bother to do even a modicum of research, you would see that many, many current and former players - too many to list here - give of their time and money to the community. From just a New England perspective, I personally have worked with members of the New England Patriots through the national PTA's Play 60 initiative who show up in person to host school events for a region where they work out with kids, and players who don't yet have their own separate charities work with the team's charitable foundation to show up at events that support and raise money for the community. Rob Gronkowski donated a ton of new equipment to the youth football program in a neighboring city and showed up at a practice to hand it out and talk to the kids. Tom Brady is a huge part of the Best Buddies program and goes to fundraising events and participates in a charity ride for that program. Brandin Cooks has a foundation that works with kids in three specific communities. I could go on and on and on. The argument that players - especially Kaepernick - aren't doing enough for their communities is just laughable. Stop it.
ETA: Diane, I love your entire response. Brava!
Original:
We talk about racial justice (and all kinds of things) in my house a lot now. To a point where my younger kids are a bit sick of it LOL. We are white, but their groups of friends are diverse so they really don't see the injustice yet or get why it's a big deal, why I've participated in two large marches this year, why we keep having conversations. My 13 year old son is starting to see it because his black friends are old enough to be more aware that unfortunately, this nice little bubble of diversity and respect that we've been able to maintain won't last forever and that the world treats young black men differently than it does their white peers.
Anyway...my kids know why players choose to take a knee and that it's a respectful sign of peaceful protest. We talk about the difference between nationalism and patriotism, and how using a position of power and visibility to shine a light into dark corners and help lift others up is as American as it gets. That when the country you love doesn't live up to it's own promise, it's only right to draw attention to that and work to make things better, to make your country live up to its ideals and its promises, to say that we can do better.
I'm sad that we need to have these conversations, but I've been living in a pretty cushy bubble of well-intentioned but ineffective, comfortable, middle-class white ignorance my whole life. It's time be uncomfortable. It's time to stop pretending everything is fine. The fact that we're discussing this is a sign that the protest is working, and I'm grateful for the players who chose to use their powerful positions to get the conversation started.