If Colin Kaepernick wants to sit down, or sit out, to support the oppressed, let him…while those like him who’ve put themselves in the category of the un-oppressed stream on by.
Frankly, I find San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s sitdown strike for the national anthem as…well, different.
“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,” he’s quoted as saying.
Funny that he looked the other way for the past three seasons while he was being paid millions to play football – that he didn’t personally feel oppressed when he was offered and signed a new contract making him at the time the second richest quarterback in the NFL. Timing is everything, CK, if you want someone to believe you’re sincere.
Funny he hasn’t taken inventory of his team and the rest of league, which employs at least 68% African Americans and other minorities, all getting paid handsomely, and some getting unoppressively rich through the same opportunity he’s been given.
Funny he hasn’t taken inventory of the country at large, or taken note that we now have a black president, black congressmen, black judges, black governors, CEOs, doctors, lawyers, teachers, professors, general managers and you name it. And every one of them got that way because they CHOSE not to be oppressed.
What they actually chose was to make the most of an excellent, free public education opportunity. Some had parents, some did not, but somehow they recognized that the way not to be oppressed was to do something constructive with their lives.
What they actually chose was the difference offered by education and taking advantage of the system that rewards achievement…over doing nothing, following the lead of others doing nothing, and putting themselves in harm’s way.
Funny that CK can look beyond a country that granted him the opportunity to rise through the ranks of athletic achievement, which he did, rather than stand on the street and make excuses – how “the man” kept him down. What man? He chose to be his own man. He took advantage of the system he now condemns.
Funny how he discounts the choice of former running back teammate with the 49ers, Glenn Coffee, who left the team after one season to enlist as an army paratrooper, to serve his country, and to protect the opportunity enjoyed by one Colin Kaepernick. I haven’t heard whether Coffee thinks he’s oppressed because of loyalty to country and honor, or not. I’m guessing not.
If CK is sitting down over his statement of support for Black Lives Matter, that’s fine. But what’s he say to all the other black lives who’ve chosen not to be oppressed through their own actions and their own decisions for success; instead of killing, burning their own homes and communities, and blaming someone else for not sharing the wealth?
Funny how he says nothing about the 73 African Americans shot and killed this month in Chicago (which isn’t so funny)…by other African Americans? Somebody’s getting away with those murders, too. What does CK think about them? Is he sitting, or standing, for the sake of those lives and whether they matter or not?
He says he’s willing to have football taken away, and the endorsements. He’s willing to bite the hand that feeds him, and feeds him well. Fine. I’m sure he’s taken good care of the money he’s already made. He’s gonna’ be fine if he never works another day in his life…if he made the right choices.
Some say he’s doing the right thing, given the amount of money the NFL is making off African Americans. But the league makes just as much off guys like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. And if he IS sitting down for what’s right, why are the other 1154 black NFL players not sitting with him? What about their opportunity, their success, and their money? Hmmm?
Colin, it’s time for you stand and take inventory. In the end it’s really a business decision, my man. A business that’s done well for a whole lot of people that look an awful lot…like you!
And no one oppressed them. They just made good choices.