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Last year, Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to protest state violence against black and brown bodies. He was demanding his country live up to its purported ideals before he would feel comfortable participating in a nationalistic ritual. He was protesting for justice.
Critics on the right sprouted up almost immediately to condemn him, not challenging the goal of his protest, but charging him of disrespecting our flag, our troops, and our country. But that’s a stretch. Rosa Parks wasn’t disrespecting public transportation when she protested segregation on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Mahatma Gandhi wasn’t disrespecting food when he went on a hunger strike to protest British colonialism in India.
This type of reaction isn’t new. When Louis Armstrong canceled his State Department-sponsored cultural diplomacy tour because Arkansas’ Governor Orval Faubus refused to desegregate schools, he was castigated for his lack of patriotism. Kaepernick’s critics accuse him of disrespecting America to deflect from the real reason for their anger. Trump said if a player (67% black) kneels for the game, owners (97% white) should “get that son of bitch off the field” because it’s a “privilege [to make] millions of dollars in the NFL.” Far-right former Congressman Joe Walsh called the athletes “ungrateful black millionaires,” a sentiment echoed by Breitbart.
Their language is revealing. This was never about the flag or patriotism; it was about the gall of black athletes to voice their experience. It is about reminding everyone who holds the power.
It’s the same reason Mike Pence honored Abraham Lincoln on the first day of Black History month. Forget slave rebellions, forget the underground railroad, forget black union soldiers, forget black resistance; the white man who signed the law deserves the credit. Forget the hard work, forget the dedication, forget the talent; playing in the NFL is a privilege bestowed upon lucky athletes by altruistic white, male billionaires. In their eyes, black people should be grateful for any success because it was not earned, it was given. And if it happened to be earned, well, be happy white people allowed you the success.
This is why Obama was so toxic to the GOP, the Tea Party, and their voters. This is why they tried to discredit him as a non-citizen and questioned his academic record. He simply could not be this excellent, this self-made, this qualified . . . and black. He must be a fraud, if he was even an American.
If taking a knee were truly about the flag, if it were truly about patriotism, or qualifications, or fraud,then we wouldn’t have elected a sentient, rotten tangerine with a history of multiple bankruptcies, assaulting women, and losing lawsuits for fraud and discrimination who spent nearly two years disparaging the United States as a crumbling wasteland full of freeloading, violent people of color. But Trump won. Because he could restore the natural order. Because he was white. Because he was a man going up against a woman in a male-dominated, sexist culture.
He had zero qualifications and beat an extremely qualified woman to replace the first black president. Trump is the biggest single benefactor of affirmative action in American history.
If you haven’t taken the time to listen to why Kaepernick is protesting, you should do so.If you still think he shouldn’t, I doubt I have the words to convince you. Because, to me, it seems you’re just trying to silence a black person challenging police terror.
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