colin kaepernick

Land of the free, home of the brave….well not for Colin Kaepernick!

 

You know for as long as I can remember, football has been a part of my life. As the only girl of six brothers, I was kind of inducted into the sports world without even asking to be. Whether it was pee-wee, high school or college games, I have spent my fair share of time at them cheering on members of my family. It’s even a tradition of ours to get together every year for the Super Bowl. Regardless to who may be playing, we gather at one house and scream at the TV.

So, to know that football has always been a part of my life in some way and to see how it has become a participant in racism breaks my heart. And for that reason alone, I cannot support the NFL and feel I must stand with others in solidarity by boycotting the sport. Now if you’re just tuning in to what may be going on, let me take you back to last season when Colin Kaepernick, QB for the San Francisco 49ers took a stand regarding the National Anthem. He publicly stated due to the increased amounts of police shootings involving unarmed black men, he could not salute a flag, nor stand for a song that we were not a part of.

In doing this, he sparked public outrage across the country. People, mainly white Americans were furious and felt he should not be using his platform to create such a ruckus. But I ask you this, what else should he use his platform for? Selling tennis shoes? Or promoting soft drinks? What would you have him stand on his platform and do? See in my opinion, most White Americans are always ok with Black people acting and speaking ignorantly. They are fine with us jumping, singing, dancing, and running after a ball for THEIR entertainment. But the minute we stand for something positive and try to unite OUR PEOPLE, dear GOD we become the anti-Christ.

colin kaepernick

God forbid we as a people come together to fight for rights that God himself gave us. No, that’s not okay because then we’ll have to have real conversations about what’s really going on this country. And what’s really going on is black men and women are constantly being locked up and murdered for being black. We have reversed back into time and we are staring down the barrel of Jim Crow all over again. This is what Colin was standing up for. This is why he chose to silently protest the National Anthem.

He didn’t act a fool (as they would like for us to do), he didn’t tear up any property, or assault any officers. No, he sat down. And when that wasn’t good enough, he compromised and took a knee. Fast forward to now and he’s being blackballed. He’s not being excluded because he had a bad season, or that fact he may be injured. No! He’s being exiled because he’s a BLACK MAN in America who said enough is enough and until change happens to hell with your song.

And without a doubt, the NFL has subliminally done what the slave masters back in the day did to the slaves that rebelled. You disobey us, we will punish you for it. You speak out against us, we will make you suffer. You have an inkling of a brain and we will make sure to silence you for good. And now, that Kaepernick has decided to no longer allow them to toss him back and forth, or silence him, he is bowing out of football gracefully.

Now as you can see, no matter how much I love football and the fact it is a part of me; I cannot and will not support an organization that silently says, “You’re not allowed to exercise your 1st Amendment right and if you do Black Man, you will regret it.”

 

 

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Shadress Denise
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