The truth behind why NFL players are protesting and how their message gets lost in the politics
Hardly anyone noticed the first couple of times Colin Kaepernick protested during the national anthem in the 2016 preseason. That changed the third time he did — and its effects continue to be felt today.
But the way we talk about the protests is still the same as it was in 2016. The NFL fan base remains divided on the topic, in part because it gets exploited for political purposes that have nothing to do with the reason the protests began.
There is no magical cure that will make every team, owner, player, and fan happy.
But the league has still tried to find a solution that everyone can agree on. It has tried to reach compromises that aren’t really compromises. It has tried to do the impossible and quiet Donald Trump.
And the point of the protests can be easily lost.
Players have a good reason for protesting.
Colin Kaepernick’s decision to protest, beginning in August of 2016, was rooted in bringing attention to police brutality and the systemic inequality faced by people of color in the United States. It was not about the anthem itself and had nothing to do with U.S. troops.
He began his protest by sitting for the national anthem and then altered his demonstration to take a knee.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said, via NFL.com. “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.”
In 2016, when Kaepernick began his protest, black people made up only 13% of the population but also:
- They made up nearly 63% of unarmed people killed by police officers.
- Black people were nearly three times more likely to be arrested for illicit drugs.
- People of color not only make up a disproportionate amount of the prison population, but also are more likely to serve longer sentences for the same crimes as their white counterparts.
Kaepernick’s protest came a month after Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were shot and killed by police and three months before Donald Trump — who kicked off his campaign by saying undocumented immigrants from Mexico were “bringing crime. They’re rapists” — was elected president.
Comments
Post a Comment