A leading cause of death for young Black men in the United States is murder by the hands of law enforcement. Black men and boys are about two-and-a-half times more likely to die during an encounter with law enforcement than their white peers, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2019. The rhetoric this study uses is alarming, writing a large percentage of Black men “can expect to be killed by police.”
Police brutality in the United States has been widespread since the late 19th and 20th centuries, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. It is appalling that this is still the reality for Black men today.
Colin Kaepernick, the quarterback who in 2012 led the San Francisco 49er’s to their first Super Bowl appearance in 18 years, took a knee during the U.S. national anthem in the 49ers’ third preseason game in 2016. He knelt to protest the systematic oppression and police brutality that Black citizens encounter daily in the U.S.
Kaepernick’s critics argue that, while his anger towards law enforcement’s treatment of Black American’s was justified, kneeling during the anthem was not an appropriate way to affect change, as reported in CBS Sports. The most common critique? Kaepernick is disrespecting the flag when he kneels during the anthem and that kneeling is unAmerican.
These critics are wrong. Protesting is one of the most American things a citizen can do. It is an American citizen’s civic duty to protest an unjust and unfair government or system of laws. To form a more perfect union and establish justice, the four Founding Fathers ingrained freedom of assembly, freedom of association and freedom of speech clauses in the U.S. Constitution.
While the 1963 march on Washington for jobs and freedom helped pass fundamental legislation for Black Americans and entailed the assembly of thousands of peaceful citizens, an effective protest may be as simple as taking a knee.
Kaepernick’s gesture sparked a national debate and emboldened other professional players to protest the just cause as well. “You have to stand proudly for the national anthem, or you shouldn’t be playing, you shouldn’t be there. Maybe you shouldn’t be in the country,” were the words President Donald Trump said during an interview in “Fox and Friends,” acknowledging Kaepernick’s movement.
In response to Trump’s belligerent remarks, a whopping 204 players opted to kneel or sit during the playing of the national anthem in September of 2017. Protests and outrage persisted throughout the season as Trump continued to castigate the NFL for not disciplining their players. The NFL, a league with not a single Black franchise owner and that immerses their games in overt patriotic parade, abided by Trump’s rule. The league stated, “Protests created a false perception among many that thousands of NFL players were unpatriotic.” A 2018 policy now fines any team whose players kneel in protest.
In the end, Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the 49ers. John Lynch, the general manager of the team, expressed that had Kaepernick not opted out on his own terms, the team would have discharged him regardless.
Kaepernick has not played a single game of professional football to this day, though he has indicated that he wants to. “I still train five days a week. I’m ready to go, I’m ready for a phone call, tryout, workout at any point in time. I’m still waiting on the owners and their partners to stop running from this situation. So I hope I get a call this offseason. I’ll be looking forward to it,” he told USA Today in February.
Though Kaepernick ultimately knew that in taking a knee he would suffer negative consequences, he chose to do so because it was the morally responsible thing to do. “Like I said from the beginning: I knew the consequences of what could come from this,” he said on The Undefeated. “People’s lives [are] being taken, and people’s lives [are] being affected by this on a daily basis. More and more conversations are happening that need to happen so, ultimately, we can address this issue and create change.”
Kaepernick determined that it was more important to use his platform as a professional football player to affect consequential change than to keep quiet, do as he was told and continue making millions of dollars in the league. Kaepernick now watches on the sidelines. He lost everything and a professional football career in the pursuit of justice.
He knelt so others could stand. That is called being a hero. Colin Kaepernick should go down in history as a hero.
good points made here
Where the hell is he now?
Yea, his “cops are pigs” socks makes him a hero? No one’s kneeling any more.
No one is kneeling because they get fined if the kneel. “A 2018 policy now fines any team whose players kneel in protest.” Did you read it?
I guess their demonstrations for their “cause” wasn’t really worth their money.