http://blog.timesunion.com/hoffmanfiles/the-curious-case-of-colin-kaepernick/13769/
Will the real Colin Kaepernick please stand up, please stand up…said a lot of people this past weekend. Colin Kaepernick, a man with more tattoos than touchdown passes last season has decided to take a stand, by sitting down…when the National Anthem is played. Why Kaepernick favors this particular form of protest, and certainly the firestorm of negative responses that erupted as a result of his given form of “protest” begs a closer look.
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This is Colin Kaepernick before the 2015 Super Bowl when his team, the San Francisco 49ers took on and eventually lost to the Baltimore Ravens. Notice his neatly coiffed hair and his lack of passionate protest. (You Tube)
Now, check out a more recent version of this would-be radical.
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He’s demonstrating all of the classic signs of radicalization. The crazy hair, the beard, the look of disrespect for all we hold dear, and a very low QBR or “Quarterback Rating”. (You Tube)
Let’s start with the man himself. Colin Kaepernick’s story is a bit more complex than most people would imagine. Kaepernick was born to a 19 year-old destitute woman who was white. His father was African-American, and was out of the picture for Kaepernick before he was even born. He was adopted by a white couple who had lost two children to heart defects. They moved to California, where Kaepernick demonstrated tremendous athletic prowess, particularly in baseball. His favorite sport however was football, and he played quarterback at the University of Nevada at Reno where he put up the type of numbers that caused professional football scouts to stand up and take notice. The San Francisco 49ers traded up in the 2011 draft in order that they could select Kaepernick in the 2nd round.
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Kaepernick’s tremendous athletic skill almost led the 49ers to a historic comeback against the Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII. (New York Times)
At first, Kaepernick appeared destined to be little more than a novelty act at the quarterback position. Sure he could run, but many “experts” doubted he had the skill set to ever be a great passer. However, under coach Jim Harbaugh, Kaepernick eventually earned a promotion to the position of starting quarterback for the 49ers, and took them to one Super Bowl and two NFC Championship games.
Kaepernick’s success however has come to a grinding halt. In fact, his performance has fallen off so significantly, that many feel that the 49ers will cut the former star quarterback, rather than pay his hefty salary which currently stands at 19 million dollars per year. Kaepernick only threw six touchdown passes last season. This amounts to a little over three million dollars per touchdown. Not a very positive R.O.I. for the San Francisco 49ers. Has Kaepernick chosen a rather risky moment in his career to start looking to cause a political and social ruckus? I mean, if you’re going to stink at your job, perhaps it would be prudent to stink “quietly”?
(I don’t wish to come off as too “judgey”, but this is not what the 49ers are paying for! You Tube)
While it wouldn’t be accurate to say that Kaepernick’s stance came out of left field, it didn’t exactly appear earlier in his career that he was going to be the heir apparent to Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Muhammad Ali when it came to African-American athletic activism. Quite honestly, he seemed a lot more interested in adding to his tatoo collection as opposed to creating social and political waves. However, through the “beauty” of social media, everybody can become an activist. Kaepernick’s Twitter account is filled with tweets and re-tweets regarding the subjects of race, #blacklivesmatter, and other controversial political, and social issues. He has become especially vocal over the topic that some now perceive as an epidemic in our society, the shooting by predominantly white police officers of unarmed young black males. It is this particular issue that has motivated Kaepernick to sit during the Star Spangled Banner.
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As much as people would like to think that patriotism and love of country is a simple matter, it is far more complicated than most would have you believe. Lt. Jackie Robinson, a soldier, the man who broke the color barrier in baseball, and a hero to the nation once said, “I cannot stand and sing the anthem, I cannot salute the flag.” (Getty Images)
While many gun-lovers like to proclaim that the 2nd Amendment is the most important right that can be found in the Bill of Rights, I can’t help but feel that the 1st Amendment is still the granddaddy of them all. Our expression rights are spelled out in the 1st Amendment, and they include:
Freedom of Speech
Freedom of Religion
Freedom of the Press
Right to Assemble
Right to Petition the Government
While many have debated their definitions and limitations, it has fallen to the Supreme Court of the United States to interpret what they mean for the people of this nation. Many times, the conclusions reached by the court have left a lot of Americans frustrated, even to the point where some have looked towards the legislative branch to undue what the court has decided.
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When Sean Hannity wants to tell his children a scary bedtime story, he tells them chilling tales of the Warren Court, the liberal justices who tried to legislate from the bench. The Warren Court actually had the audacity to tell the country that people, even if they are poor, or minorities, or accused of a crime, actually have rights! Those bastards! (Getty Images)
The debate over Kaepernick’s act of protest on social media, radio, as well as cable television revolves around certain complex questions that offer division in the public sector, but few simple answers. There are at least three questions that should be explored if we are to gain a better understanding of Kaepernick’s actions, and the reactions they have provoked.
1. Do Kaepernick’s actions constitute legitimate free speech?
Colin Kaepernick’s actions, like it or not, (and most people fall under that category of “not”) are an exercise of his right to free speech. The Supreme Court, be it a liberal or conservative leaning court, has consistently ruled in favor of almost all examples of free speech, including so-called “hate speech”. The deplorable Westboro Baptist Church of Kansas has been protesting military funerals for years. Their reason? Well, because our nation tolerates homosexuality. Duh! (I’ll give you a few minutes to digest that juicy piece of logic.) The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, reluctantly ruled in favor of the rights of the “Church” to attend these burials and carry out their protest.
The court reached the same conclusion when the American Nazi Party fought to march through a predominantly Jewish section of Skokie, Illinois in 1977. The Burger Court ruled that hate speech was still protected free speech. The Bill of Rights protects freedom of expression, it does not, however, make exceptions for unpopular free speech. Flag burning for example, is a legitimate form of free expression, no matter how offensive and disrespectful it may seem. It is legally protected free speech. People’s anger over the sight of a burning American Flag does not give them the right to attack a person practicing that particular version of free speech. Violence expressed over somebody elses protected unpopular free speech is not protected. Kaepernick is certainly within his legal rights.
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Not only is this legal, but consider this little tidbit. In Germany, it’s illegal today to join the Nazi party, even though, this is the country where Nazism began. In the United States of America, the country that sacrificed hundreds of thousands of young men to defeat the Nazis, it is legal to be a member of the Nazi party. Thoughts? (Getty Images)
2. Is Kaeperhick disrespecting the military and all those who have served and/or sacrificed for our nation and its flag?
This is a complex question to say the least. So many have sacrificed, suffered and perished for our country, as well as its symbol, the “Stars and Stripes”. Isn’t it insulting for Kaepernick to disrespect that flag and all of those soldiers and their families? He claims that he means no disrespect to the military. His beef is with the police and our government. However, I’m not sure the form of protest he has chosen is the best for carrying out his objectives. Sure, we can take him at his word, but is it an effective form of protest when you disrespect one group in order to highlight the discrimination faced by another? He may not be helping bring about attention to his cause, especially if his protest actually distracts people from his cause while bringing attention inadvertently to a different groups’ concerns.
However, when the passionate supporters of the military claim that it is the military that allows us to have the freedoms we enjoy, and that is why Kaepernick’s approach to protest is so misguided, they are missing a couple of key points.
The military, as brave and selfless as they are, do not provide us with our rights, they protect them. If somebody gives you something, then they can take it away.
It can be argued that the most important right that our military has always protected for us, is the right to unpopular forms of free speech. Popular free speech doesn’t require protection. Many of the most important movements in American history began as grossly unpopular forms of free speech. Remember, Martin Luther King jr. was hardly viewed as a saint during his lifetime by many.
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Colin Kaepernick isn’t Martin Luther King any more than he’s Tom Brady, but many protest movements, like King’s, were viewed for a time as radical and unpopular by many people in society. (New York Times)
3. Why might it be risky or even potentially dangerous to use the act of standing for the National Anthem as a litmus test for loyalty.
When I was a boy, my father had season tickets to the New York Jets. Every Sunday, about three minutes before kick-off, the National Anthem would commence. From about five rows above us, a rather rotund middle-age man with a construction helmet would bellow to all of those within ear shot, “Take ya hats off!” Sometimes if he felt that he hadn’t made his point, he would add, “This isn’t Russia!” Since I was only about 11 years of age at the time, I thought it was more humorous than anything else. However, few argued or disobeyed. Was this man a better American than those who stood there oblivious, choosing to keep their hats on more out of indifference as opposed to protest? The gentlemen above could have been a wife-beater or a pervert for all we knew, but his value system was defined for all to see by simply demanding respect for the Star Spangled Banner. Is that the best approach to determining love of country that we can conjure up?
(Is Roseanne a bad American? Is she simply disrespectful, or just a really bad singer? You Tube)
Building a free and tolerant society has proven to be one of the most difficult tasks that any nation can attempt to accomplish. Allowing for unpopular opinions and viewpoints, particularly when those views contrast with those of the majority, and/or make the majority uncomfortable has only been accomplished successfully by a handful of nations, and the United States is one of those nations. Colin Kaepernick is well within his rights to sit during the National Anthem. Whether it is an effective form of protest, and whether there are other things he could be doing in order to advocate for the safety of young African-American males against either the police, or violence in their own neighborhoods, are certainly legitimate and debatable questions.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog dedicated to the life of Muhammad Ali. It was called Muhammad Ali and the End of the Radical Black Athlete.
http://blog.timesunion.com/hoffmanfiles/muhammad-ali-and-the-end-of-the-radical-black-athlete-2/10020/. In it, I made the point that although Ali had practically become sainted as he became older and more infirm, it’s important to remember that during the early part of his career, he was labeled by a majority of Americans as radical, uppity, and an ungrateful troublemaker who should have demonstrated respect for his country by serving during the Vietnam War. Other African-American athletes who were also supposed to just “shut-up and play!” like Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Curt Flood, and Bill Russell, were vilified in the press as well for the stances they took and the attitudes they embraced.
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Jim Brown, the greatest running back in NFL history never shied away from a linebacker or an issue. He has come out in favor of Kaepernick.’s stance. (Getty Images)
While I’m not ready to put Colin Kaepernick in the company of these legendary athletes and activists, perhaps we would be wise to recall that while we may not always agree with the ideas being expressed by the protester, we must always respect the act of protest.
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