I used to think Colin Kaepernick was stupid. I mean, if you only saw him play, as I have, against the Seattle Seahawks, you might wonder why he was deemed worthy of getting $114,000,000 for playing six years as an NFL quarterback. His passer rating (a formula used to compare QBs based on several of their statistics) vs the Hawks is 55.4. The league average is 83.4, and his average in all other games is about 90. So I saw him, game after game, year after year, make poor decisions, appear befuddled by Seattle’s top flight secondary defense, and generally look like someone who was in over his head.
Then I read he has taken to sitting, and sometimes not removing his cap, during the pre-game tradition of the national anthem. So I gave him a re-think.
I have a long history of dealing with my own feelings about the anthem as it is used prior to most sporting events. For decades, I was a season ticket holder with the pro basketball Sonics, and many of the events I participate in, like triathlons, also play the anthem just before the whistle goes off. When I was 15, one of the rules for life I came up with was, “Never do anything for the sole reason that it’s expected of you.” In other words, think for yourself, and act accordingly.
My formative years were spent at a time when serious moral deficits in our power structure were being exposed. Racial segregation in schools, employment, housing, along with violence towards those who objected. War in a small country half way around the world killing tens of thousands of my age compatriots, and hundreds of thousands of locals, to say nothing of fire bombing their country side with napalm.
Restriction of women from the educational institutions I found myself within – when I started college, 0% of my classmates were women; by then end of three years, that number had risen to 0.3%. In medical school, it was deemed a great step forward to have 15 out of 100 members be women. And of course, there was the episode of gloved fists raised during an Olympic awards ceremony in 1968, by two American black sprinters.
I saw little reason to mindlessly exalt over my country’s symbols such as the flag. So I have engaged in small silent objections to the practice of stopping everything when the strains of “Oh, say can you see…” start. At various times I have: not stood; left the arena to use the toilet; not removed my head covering; never placed my hand over my heart, nor sang along; averted my gaze from the flag; not stood still. I never felt I was protesting anything, just not wishing to publically exhibit a blind patriotism when there was so much to improve about our country. If ever called on my actions ( I never have been), I would intend to say: “You honor our country your way, I’ll honor it in mine.”
So it was with more than mild interest that I have been reading about Mr. Kaepernick’s refusal. At first, I thought, “Good for him!” His stated reasons for his action (or non-action): “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.”
It so happens that Karpernick has a black father, and a white mother, who gave him up for adoption to a well-off white couple. So like many mixed race persons raised in a white environment, he has a unique perspective on the subtle nature of racism in the US. Like our current President, he presumably learned that people would judge him first on his appearence, and that judgement would be different than others in his social sphere who were “white”. Despite his upbringing, he learned to identify himself as “black”, and identify with those in the same category who were less well off then himself. He certainly is privileged now, and has a platform on which to express his views that others don’t. So good for him for taking a stand, no?
Well, maybe. But as I said, Colin Kaepernick is, in my mind, stupid. In his situation, just making a statement appears to be making things worse, not better. He’s is getting attention, but not about the issue he raises, but rather about the way he is raising it. I mean, he has all that money, right? And a platform in the public eye? Many NFL players set up foundations for social improvement, and he is no exception. Some of his money goes to Camp Taylor, for kids with heart disease. His parents lost two infant children to heart disease, so the link is obvious.
But maybe, if he really believes America has a problem with how it treats minorities and people of color – and I am not disputing this point of view – he could either create or contribute to and advocate for an organization whose purpose is to improve that situation. Say, the Southern Poverty Law Center, as just one example. Or something designed specifically to improve police/community relations in areas where young black men are at risk both from each other, and from their interactions with the justice system. That would be smart.