Colin Kaepernick’s decision to sit for the national anthem to bring attention to the FACT of Black oppression in this country is proving to be one of the bravest acts of this decade if not this century. "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," he said. A sportswriter tried to say that this was Kaepernick’s belief, no this is a fact of life in the US. African Americans are an oppressed nationality in the US.
"To me, this is something that has to change and when there’s significant change, and I feel like that flag represents what it’s supposed to represent in this country—is representing the way that it’s supposed to—I’ll stand."
He told the truth and he is standing on it. Now that is a role model!
By saying clearly that Black people are still oppressed and Black and Whites are continually victimized by the police without any recourse he shattered the sound barrier of silence, by not just athletes but regular citizens as well. Most of us are mush mouthed when it comes to telling the truth or we just stutter. It’s almost embarrassing that it took an entertainer, a football player to take this much needed stand.
And in exposing and standing on this truth he has also picked at the American scab that has not been healed because the power structure has no intention on healing the wound.
“We criticize athletes for not going back to their neighborhoods from which they came and for not being able to identify with people who don’t make millions of dollars,” said Sarah Spain of ESPN.” But when they do and say look at someone else who doesn’t enjoy the same freedoms they get criticized for that as well.”
Spain seems to really understand the significance of Kaepernick’s protest. She said, “He is making us talk about it in a way that we don’t see when it’s the average person who is losing their life to police brutality. Look this is someone who is deciding to make his life more difficult in order to speak for others….. “Change has to be uncomfortable you have to do something that makes people think”
Many White Americans are upset with him because deep down they know this truth but they are ticked off because he brought out in the open so clearly and emphatically. Most in our society know that Black folks are subjected to a double standard, but there is an expectation that Black folks should be quiet about it.
The argument about disrespecting the military is merely a deflection. By focusing on the symbol (the flag) it keeps folks from having to deal with the substance of his complaint. And many in the military Black, Latin and White have begun to back the quarterback up in a way that is encouraging and actually unifying.
Truth is too many of our fellow citizens really don’t care about the reason for his protest.
Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh gave the most honest response when he said he didn’t respect “the motivation or the action”. In other words he didn’t respect the desire to end Black oppression or the idea that cops should be held accountable and prosecuted when they kill or brutalize citizens especially Black ones. Harbaugh backed away from this statement later with an insincere apology after most likely getting a phone call from the athletic director who probably said, Jim are you crazy don’t you know that the BIG HOUSE Michigan plays in and the big house you live in and your big salary are paid for on the backs of underpaid and exploited Black athletes many of whom have either experienced police abuse or have relatives and parents that have been victimized.
Ironically the flag does not represent liberty and justice for all it merely represents or symbolizes the idea which Colin so eloquently has pointed has fallen short. And Drew Brees has it wrong, the flag and the anthem did not give him the right to speak up, it was the people demanding that certain rights be granted that gives him the right.
He has shown himself to be much more classy than the folks who disagree h him. In fact the response that he has gotten exposes the truth of his protest.
Reportedly Big shot NFL execs are saying they hate Colin and are comparing him to Rae Carruth. So standing up against oppression and police violence is the same as being a murderer. That speaks volumes! Not surprisingly unlike Kaepernick who has the guts to say what he thinks and stand on it publicly, these cowards hide behind anonymity. What they are implying is that Colin is possibly messing with their money and to them that is equal to murder. So who is the real social deviant, them or Kaepernick.
And why did an exec call him a traitor? What did he betray? I suspect that they are upset because some of these folks feel like they have done Black folks a favor by allowing them to be paid gladiators.
Some think that Black folks ought to be grateful to just be in America despite the precarious lives they are forced to live while trying to avoid the racial mine field that threatens their well- being at every turn.
And today Americans question Blacks patriotism because they know most blacks may have good reason to consider an offer from the other side. Because let’s face it ,Black people in this country have for the most part been afforded a kind of second class citizenship.
Don’t take my word for it look at the record
And today we pretend none of this happened. This is an unjust place so the power structure fills in for the lack of justice with fake patriotism and country worship.
Nobody should be mad at Kaepernick for calling the country on it.
justice then peace