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Colin Kaepernick’s Sit-In
This weekend the National Football League’s Colin Kaepernick decided for the third straight preseason game to sit during the playing of the national anthem. According to Kaepernick, America “oppresses black people and people of color” and there are dead “bodies in the street” of black and brown people “murdered” by white cops. The San Francisco 49’ers quarterback also believes that “white supremacy” is the “standard” American practice.
Kaepernick said, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
To be clear, this controversy isn’t about Colin Kaepernick’s First Amendment right to freely express his opinion- however uninformed it may be. He’s literally at liberty to say almost anything he chooses. However, though the First Amendment protects his right of self-expression, it doesn’t protect him from being criticized for exercising his opinions.
Kaepernick refuses to stand to honor the flag or the country that, “oppresses black people and people of color.” What about the many blacks and other “people of color” who’re currently serving or who’ve died in service to the country and its flag that he refuses to honor? His selfish, racialized protest ignores and delegitimizes their sacrifice(s). For this reason alone he deserves every bit of moral condemnation that comes his way. He earned it.
That said, when he talks about America’s racial oppression of blacks and people of color, does he include himself in that false racial narrative and lamentation, or does this “oppression” refer to other blacks in the country? Why or why not? I’m very curious to know the specifics of how America has oppressed Colin Kaepernick.
Here’s one problem (among many) with his sorry explanation. If one is going to make a political statement by rejecting the public display of respect for the national anthem, the flag, and those who’ve died defending and are currently defending the values both symbols represent, one better have a well thought out explanation justifying the rationale for such a controversial decision. Not half-baked racial platitudes regurgitated by racial and social justice warriors, but actual specifics that demonstrate intellectual coherency and a sense of sobriety.
As we’ve seen, his explanations don’t qualify.
Since Kaepernick didn’t parse his statement, people are left to assume that America oppresses all blacks, he included. Thus, he has an obligation to explain exactly how a black kid- adopted, loved and raised by white parents (not black ones), in a nice California suburb, whose multimillion dollar salary is incommensurate with his talent, has- or is- experiencing the kind of “oppression” that motivates him to sit in defiant protest when the national anthem is played. He should clearly explain his recent enlightenment to America’s treatment and “oppression” of blacks. In other words, why now? Has this “oppression” worsened recently? If so, when and how? He also should explain in detail what government actions constitute “oppression” and how contemporary America is guilty of it. Further, he should explicitly define “white supremacy” and how it’s “standard.”
Simply saying these racially provocative things with smug emotional certitude doesn’t make them so.
If by oppression he means the dead “bodies in the street” of black and brown people who were “murdered” by white cops,” then like most people who adopt the dishonest propaganda of predatory cops intentionally killing “unarmed blacks,” simply and only because they’re black, he’s a fool who’s flat out wrong. Such parroted slander of murderous cops undercuts the integrity of the many good cops who do a thankless job protecting citizens in areas Kaepernick would never live, let alone drive. It also undermines his moral credibility in the process.
By thoughtlessly repeating disingenuous racial narratives like his fellow blacktivists and other racial agitators, Colin Kaepernick has intentionally disregarded evidence-based reality. He’s guilty of continuing an all too familiar falsehood to advance a racialized, ideological narrative of black victimization by racist white cops.
Unfortunately for the millionaire, rookie racial grievance merchant, facts simply don’t support that position. Though police officers aren’t perfect (who claims they are?), for the most part, they don’t murder people. Police officers have killed criminal suspects and others who’ve either resisted arrest, have assaulted them, or have attempted to disarm them in a bid to inflict harm, including death, during police stops and other escalated confrontations. In other words, because of their imprudence, criminal suspects- regardless of color- have underwritten their early deaths and bear some responsibility. Thus, their deaths don’t qualify as “oppression.” Of course, all officer-involved shootings aren’t justified but a great many are and they shouldn’t be invalidated simply because morally misguided and foolish people want to attach social virtue to varying levels of brown complexion.
Interestingly enough- and this may be news to the new racial militant- but there are a number of dead black and brown bodies in the streets that have absolutely nothing to do with racist police officers and everything to do with out-of-control black criminality. Why isn’t Colin Kaepernick standing, or more specifically, sitting in solidarity with them? As is obvious by now, even to half-interested observers, blacks kill more blacks in one week than white cops kill blacks in an entire year. Why is Kaepernick willing to ignore these victims of color, and their families? NBA star Dwyane Wade- himself a supporter of Black Lives Matter- had a cousin that was shot dead while walking her child in a stroller several days ago by two black felons. Racist white cops, white supremacy, and white “oppression” had nothing to do with her death. Does Kaepernick have anything to say about this?
According to local news outlet WGN in Chicago, Chicago police reported two people were killed and seven more were injured at four different locations, all within 20 minutes of each other early Sunday morning. No racist cops were responsible for the dead and wounded bodies in the street. What about these black bodies and other victims of color?
Even more, Chicago had witnessed seven murders and at least 38 wounded in shootings through Saturday night. Chicago’s final weekend tally includes 11 dead and 61 wounded. Black criminals and gangsters who’re largely responsible for the carnage- non-agents of white supremacy- sure as hell aren’t “getting paid leave” but most are definitely “getting away with murder.” Does Kaepernick have anything to say about this?
HeyJackass.com reports that as of this writing, Chicago has 487 homicides to date; with 2858 people who’ve been shot- the overwhelming majority (79%) of who are or were black. Haven’t’ these criminals earned some variety of moral condemnation for destabilizing black ghettos and diminishing public safety? Don’t the innocent victims- dead or alive- deserve recognition, especially by someone like Colin Kaepernick? Or has he already adopted the racial activist scheme of ignoring black deaths when white cops can’t be impugned?
The answer can partially be found on his Twitter feed, where Colin Kaepernick has taken to re-tweeting out the likes of Shaun King, Black Lives Matter, and other racial activists who’re overly concerned with ‘white supremacy,’ ‘white privilege,’ and police confrontations with ‘unarmed’ black suspects, but who’re insufficiently concerned with black crime and its increasing numbers of collateral damage.
Again, Colin Kaepernick can say what he wants and make as many political statements he chooses. But his right to self-expression doesn’t provide insulation against social condemnation for his lack of nuance or moral clarity, and his selective indignation, self-awareness, and naïveté.
The blowback Kaepernick has received is a direct result of the nation’s fatigue and annoyance with fraudulent cultivators of racial acrimony and race-obsessed identity politics. These purveyors of racial conflict have successfully and calculatedly exacerbated racial tensions and inspired protests and other forms of racialized backlash in the country during the past eight years. Mainstream America is sick of it. People are fed up with the kind of racial melodrama that’s only successful in promoting more racial resentment, which is exactly what Colin Kaepernick’s “protest” is accomplishing.
Colin Kaepernick’s decision to sit in protest during the national anthem is his to make. As of now, this decision isn’t buttressed by anything approaching intellectual, political or moral coherency. Whether his misguided “protest” against racial “oppression” is a form of racial compensation to gain racial street credibility is anyone’s guess. For now, he hasn’t achieved much more than showing a demonstrable lack of appreciation for a country that’s been very good to him while making people who’re already fed up with racial division a lot more fed up.
Published in General
Great post. I remember making this comment on your post about the actor who made that ridiculous speech at the BET Awards but there seems to be the compulsion from those who are mixed race to prove they are “down with the struggle” I’m sure in Colin’s case it’s compounded that he was raised by white people. In that because he had a privileged background and had great athletic skill to bring him to where he is that now he has to show solidarity with his brother who aren’t as fortunate even in this pathetic way which does nothing to help anyone but I guess to him he thinks he is. I’m sure he broke his parents hearts with this act of idiocy, especially for a kid who had so much that could have gone wrong in his life but was redeemed by his adoptive parents. I feel for them
He was going to be sitting for the rest of the season anyway. He stinks.
Great essay Derryck. I’ll just say that as a former police officer my empathy is reserved for those families that are afraid to let their children go to the playground, or even play in their own front yard in Chicago. Oppression is what is happening to those families. What is racist is that somehow those families do not deserve or receive the attention that Michael Brown received in Ferguson from all the social justice warriors.
I have seen good police officers, lazy police officers, and police officers that should have found a different profession. Efforts are made to weed out the officers that do not deserve to wear a badge, but unfortunately some slip through that net.
Call me cynical, but I can’t help wondering, since I gather he’s not doing so well at the moment, if this is all a big PR stunt so that if he doesn’t get the starting job, or if he ends up being cut, he will have something to complain or potentially sue over. Because then he will be the object of ‘discrimination’ because he sat out the national anthem.
Wow. Tell us how you really feel. :) (Not that I found anything to disagree with.)
Yep, I remember, and you’re absolutely right.
Kap is doubling down on his blackness to compensate for his whiteness. Barack Obama, admittedly, did the exact same thing. Being mixed race is one thing. Being mixed and raised by whites, to be culturally white is something different. Add to that the black harassment about not being “really black” of “fully black” and there’s a complicated sense of racial insecurity that seemingly dictates one’s life. Seen it too many times.
Not all succumb to the racial anxiety and inferiority complex but those who do… Lord have mercy.
Potentially. I see it more as his skills at the QB position have diminished significantly (aside from athleticism, he was never *that* good as a qb to begin with) and his head isn’t in the game. I think he sees the end coming soon and is setting the stage for a post-football career/personal meaning in racial grievance. Hey, that pays very well too. Look at Sharpton, Jackson, Dyson, Marc Lamont Hill… BLM is in the process of receiving $10 mil in grants and Soros has donated over $650k to these agitators.
I’m definitely in the wrong business.
Doug-
I couldn’t agree more.
A millionaire living a cushy lifestyle is down with the little men. Gotta love the hypocrisy and moral preening of the liberal left.
Great post!
The question I would most like to use my precious First Amendment rights to ask Mr. Kaepernick: “What’s it like playing backup to Blaine Gabbert?”
Well, I wand what kind of oppression he’s gonna get from Cliff Avril? Somethin’ might fine, I hope. Assuming he ever has a minute of playing time, that is.
Aren’t we all?
Good point. He was fun to watch at the very beginning, but he went ‘off’ quickly. If that’s his direction, though, he’ll be set for life. Sigh.
I caught a roundtable discussion on race on CNN a while ago. It was lead by Don Lemon with four blacks and a woman with that impeccable pronunciation of Hispanic. For a while I was annoyed by the discussion, but then it occurred to me, “This is their business.”
Fantastic post!
Imagine. All of America not waiting, breathlessly, for an opinion on racial issues by a black NFL quarterback.
Instead, we get to listen to whatever comes out of this dolt’s piehole, and have to have a reaction to it. Here’s mine:
Go away, Kaepernick. Shush now. And go away.
Your first point is something that can happen in other professions but not likely in professional sports where performance is what counts and is so easily evaluated. You may be correct regarding how he could be setting up for a career in the minority grievance business but I don’t see this type of play accomplishing that. And he is late to that playing field with the wrong background and no credentials.
Someone got to Kaepernick. This isn’t something he came up with on his own. I am not excusing him, just pointing out that he isn’t the thinking type.
So he was just getting in a little more practice during the National Anthem? Such a dedicated player.
This is a big one—the question that needs to be asked of all the #BLM supporters, especially the ones who have no skin (black, brown, white, whatever) in the game. Why now? What has changed in the last six months, two years or, dare I say it, eight years that makes the plight of black Americans so much worse than it was before? Is it actually worse, or does it just feel worse, and if so, why?
“I’m a two issue voter!” I declared, when I got home from the funerals in Baton Rouge. “I care about the well-being of black Americans, and I care about the well-being of cops. Both have declined markedly in the past few years.”
Well, lo-and-behold, guess who is speaking to my two issues?
Not a fan of The Donald, but I am really, really grateful to him for going after the black vote by talking frankly, openly and with considerable…dare I say it? Love… about this.
It’ll be interesting to see how 49er management handles this problem. They really need to do something before the season begins. The team can’t afford this type of nonsensical distraction. Perhaps some of his more thoughtful teammates will talk him down. Until then, management should probably confine him to the locker room during the national anthem.
My guess is that some one close to him set up his Facebook and twitter feed to skew towards sights like Salon, Thinkprogress and occupydemoctrats. The narrative these places have been building on the last fives or so would make one believe America is a gulag.
I admit to be enjoying all of this “controversy”. If you can set aside the button pushing, there has been a pretty good discussion on free speech, patriotism, and civic responsibility. This piece is a prime example, well written sir.
Mate De: I’m sure he broke his parents hearts with this act of idiocy, especially for a kid who had so much that could have gone wrong in his life but was redeemed by his adoptive parents. I feel for them.
I’d bet money that his parents are liberals that support him and his fool beliefs.
Why don’t half-white; Asian, Middle-Eastern or Hispanic Americans do that then? America is filled with half-white half-anything else people. Even with regard to Africans, I can’t imagine the child of an immigrant Igbo or Fanzi sitting down during a patriotic song.
A very similar question arises with regard to children of any color raised by a white parent. I can’t imagine any kid by a black kid feeling like he needs to separate himself from the traditions and songs of his native land.
Why?
When I get a job playing in the NFL, I’m going to refuse to honor the flag of a country that doesn’t jail Oppressors of the People such as Hilary Clinton
Because we all aspire to the paragon of morality exemplified by NFL players. Actually, I forgot that people riot when their team wins. So making racial tensions akin to the ludicrousness of that maybe the only “salient” “piece” of “information” in this “article”.
The only way a Black family wouldn’t absolutely denigrate that player for sitting during the National Anthem is if they read this article first.
I would be enjoying it if I didn’t have relatives dear friends and colleagues who are a.) cops and/or b.) black. And if they weren’t receiving death threats, which are a little too plausible given Dallas and Baton Rouge.
Which isn’t to say that you shouldn’t enjoy it, Paul. If anything, I keep trying to gain your perspective, step back, take a breath, believe that discussions will result in the eventual triumph of reason and truth.
Oh that this was the worst offense that the purveyors of the #BLM lie committed! Would that our president was merely excusing and explaining Kaepernick.
By the way, if you haven’t heard it, Andrew Klavan’s opening bit about this is laugh-out-loud funny.
After seeing your avatar I officially need to apologize. I thought you were a contributor as this is the most racially-themed post I’ve read since joining and it being where it is I made conclusions. But once I got home I saw you are a member and deserve the affability this place gave me and my views–which are influenced by my perspective as a mixed person given the parameters of racism. I sincerely apologize as a new member. Good luck to you and this Country.
I was just going to say the same, Kate! Here’s the link to the souncloud file.