LETTER: Don’t compare Colin Kaepernick to athletes who made real sacrifices

Knight Allen’s recent letter to the editor mentioned the significance of Curt Flood’s sacrifice. It was a great history lesson and one I bet the beneficiaries of his courage don’t even know. (All should read the book “A Well-Paid Slave” for the context of his courage and sacrifice). Dwight Stones, Tommie Smith and John Carlos are other examples.

I would like to add to Mr. Allen’s last comment: People should read history more often. As Mr. Allen noted, Mr. Flood had everything to lose by taking his stance, as did the following when they began their public cause with “The Cleveland Summit”: Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Bill Russell and Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) among others. These individuals are profiles in courage, in addition to being examples of what hard work and real freedom will accomplish for the better good.

If people today believe the personal/business profiteering of a Colin Kaepernick’s are worth adulation or they “deserve” free things from others, then the American experiment of freedom, self-reliance and self-government are lost. Freedom is not free.