I originally had a different post planned for today but notifications I received in the last 48 hours suggested a shift.
Last night I saw that Colin Kaepernick was getting a Nike ad and I was so happy for him.
Then, this morning I get the notification that people are already burning shoes because of his ad.
First of all I can't believe that this is still an issue.
This has been going on since 2016, for TWO years! Maybe if people remembered that black lives matter for that long we might actually get somewhere. Why is Colin STILL not playing football?! He is getting punished worse than the criminals and murderers hidden in police uniforms. And he hasn't committed any crimes.
People try to say that this is because he is disrespecting the country and all of that but that excuse seems to only be used when white people are impacted. Football is a SPORT! The flag is an inanimate object! Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Sandra Bland, etc. are PEOPLE! So, you mean to tell me that peacefully kneeling during a song that was not written about the freedom of black people, was not written for black people means more than people losing their lives?! Families losing their loved ones?! What kind of country is this?! This is sickening! I cannot for the life of me understand how you are this mad over what you are calling being unpatriotic but you are okay with innocent children and innocent people being murdered by the people who are employed to protect them. Kaepernick is employed to play football and his decision to kneel during a song does not impact what he was hired for. One has nothing to do with the other.
It amazes me that people are going as far as burning items that they have paid good money for just because Kaepernick was chosen for an ad. It blows my mind! You're willing to do that but you're not willing to stand up for people being murdered by "law enforcement". Where is the disconnect?! Honestly, I think it goes with the ever-annoying issue of hyper-masculinity and particularly hyper-white-masculinity and those white men that think we are still slaves and should be doing what they want because they have "allowed" us to be free. But, we don't really have time to go into all of that today, maybe later.
So, for the people burning things in protest which could potentially be a danger to those around you should any fires get out of your control; how do you not see that Colin Kaepernick has a right to protest as well. And he's actually protesting something that means something! That has a real point behind it! You say that the flag stands for freedom, this is his right!
I believe that Colin Kaepernick is teaching us a valuable lesson that black people, especially, tend to waiver on (mostly because we feel that we have to). Colin is teaching us to stand up for what we believe in and he is proving bigotry and injustice in this country while doing it. I've heard "If you stand for nothing you will fall for anything" and "stand up for what is right" my entire life but now we are seeing that it is not as easy as it sounds for those of us who are brown. Black people have to make some serious decisions when we decide to take a stand. It can costs us our jobs, our livelihood, our families, and everything else. There are so many different things in this country that we disagree on and we decide to not talk about them or we disagree and move on (best case scenario) but for some reason this just can't be let go? If this was a white player would this still be an issue?
I have also seen that Nike might be reconsidering making him the face of the ad. This is so disappointing to me. If you are going to stand behind him, JUST DO IT, and take this chance to stand up for what is right. Use your platform to speak up and speak out! I long for the day that this country sees people over money. Not just the facade that has been put up for centuries that America is this great democratic country but really, truly putting it's people first; which is what the flag is supposed to stand for, which is why the protest began in the first place. I really hope that Nike will actually stick to the ad slogan and do the right thing and stand with him and take the chance to make a change.
