Inauguration day 2021 brought a sense of calm, civility, excitement, pride, and professionalism that moved us light years away from the embarrassing, toxic, tumultuous, and corrupt presidency of the White House’s former occupant.
The day not only gave us a moment to breathe but also enabled us to reflect on the moments and experiences we faced over the last four years. From that time, one specific moment remains lodged in my memory for the wrong reasons.
“Get that son of a b***h off the field!”
With that stream of ignorant venom, Trump placed a target squarely on the back of San Francisco 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick for nothing more than simply taking a knee against police brutality and racism. It made him an easy mark for someone who understood how to motivate an ignorant base waiting for a signal. No longer would they have to hide in the woods or on the dark web. No longer would they have to stay silent in their business suits, high heels, or Carhartt thermal-lined hoodies. They were free to spew their hatred at targeted victims of a darker shade, fly their symbols of hate from their cars and homes, and attempt to reset America back to a time that they had never experienced. They were emboldened to carry tiki torches, honor statues of men they had no true connection too and, most recently, felt privileged enough to freely storm the Capitol in hopes of destruction and death.
But it commenced at Kaepernick’s expense on that day in September of 2017.
That moment, where fake patriotism and white fear was weaponized by attacking a peaceful gesture of taking a knee, helped fuel the rise of domestic white terrorism that was unleashed on Wednesday, January 6th, 2021.
In response, athletes mobilized. Steph Curry and the Warriors wanted nothing to do with Trump, so the NBA Champions were uninvited by the White House. LeBron James famously called him a bum and was told to “shut up and dribble”. Many of the Eagles’ Super Bowl-winning team said they didn’t want to attend the White House, so they were disinvited. WNBA champions like the Minnesota Lynx (2017) and the Seattle Storm (2018) weren’t going, so they weren’t invited either. Neither was the 2018 Women’s National Basketball Champion, Notre Dame. Megan Rapinoe and her teammates on the U.S. Women’s World Cup championship team wanted no part of the White House, so they weren’t welcome in DC either.
Some channeled their energy into action. When the Lynx traveled to Washington to play the Mystics, they participated in a day of community service in DC. Players spoke with students at Payne Elementary School, shot hoops with them and gave each student a pair of sneakers.
But it began with Colin Kaepernick.
Start of the blackballing
Many think that Kap’s descent began when he first took a knee during a preseason game on September 1st, 2016. But his movement actually began a few games earlier when the 49ers quarterback, while not in a uniform, took a seat on the bench before the game on August 14th. He repeated that action the following week, and when it was noticed before the third game on August 26th, Kap addressed his actions.
“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.”
This wasn’t Kap’s first time addressing the issue of police brutality. He had previously taken to social media to express his feelings over the murders of Black men like Philando Castille in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana by police.
“This is what lynchings look like in 2016!” he wrote on Instagram in reference to Sterling’s shooing. “Another murder in the streets because the color of a man’s skin, at the hands of the people who they say will protect us. When will they be held accountable? Or did he fear for his life as he executed this man?”
Despite his profession, Kaepernick remained unapologetic.
“This is not something that I am going to run by anybody,” he said. “I am not looking for approval. I have to stand up for people that are oppressed…If they take football away, my endorsements from me, I know that I stood up for what is right.”
Before the team’s final preseason game on September 1st, Kaepernick lit the match which enflamed Trump’s rhetoric and movement of ignorance. He, along with safety Eric Reed, took a knee during the anthem, birthing an awareness and movement on a level not witnessed before in sports. What began as fan vocal displeasure became a movement that provided a voice for the oppressed, overlooked and mistreated. He also backed that voice up with his wallet, announcing he would donate $1 million of his almost $12 million salary to charities.
“Once again, I’m not anti-American,” said Kaepernick. “I love America. I love people. That’s why I’m doing this. I want to help make America better.”
But that was lost to the MAGA crowd. Their vision of making America better didn’t include Kaepernick, those who rose up with him, and those who looked like him.
Yet it wasn’t a deterrent. By the end of the 2016 season, Kaepernick’s had the top-selling jersey in the NFL. After their last game on January 1st, 2017, he opted out of his contract, and that marked his last game on an NFL gridiron. Since then, Kaepernick has been blackballed from the league. Despite player and fan support, his NFL career had come to an end simply because he kneeled for something instead of standing for nothing.
In the aftermath, much transpired.
After the blackballing
Kaepernick founded the “Know Your Rights” organization and donated over $1 million of his own money to different organizations. The league debated the issue of kneeling. Jay-Z partnered with the NFL on music and social justice initiatives. The Players Coalition signed a deal with the owners on social justice initiatives. Kaepernick reached a settlement (terms were undisclosed) in his case against the NFL where he accused the league and its 32 teams of collusion. Kaepernick became the centerpiece of a Nike campaign and his limited edition custom sneakers sold out in minutes. He also stepped up and launched a legal defense fund in Minnesota after the George Floyd protests.
Colin’s influence cannot be denied. He reincarnated the socially conscious athlete from the Civil Rights era. His presence spread beyond the NFL. From football players at Florida State and Oklahoma State taking action against injustice to soccer teams standing to racism by kneeling, they were influenced by Kaepernick’s peaceful gesture.
Even though his professional football career was sacrificed, he coerced the NFL into acknowledging his cause. While it took the murder of George Floyd to move the NFL into action, Kaepernick’s presence was felt through the league’s social justice messaging across stadiums, helmets, and television commercials. And four years after the start of the blackballing, he finally received an apology from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
“I wish we had listened earlier, Kaep, to what you were kneeling about and what you were trying to bring attention to.” Goodell said to Emmanuel Acho on his show ‘Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man’. “We had invited him in several times to have the conversation, to have the dialogue. I wish we had the benefit of that, we never did. We would have benefited from that, absolutely.”
Some have criticized the apology as empty, but it finally arrived for all to hear.
The past comes full circle
Kaepernick was not the first socially conscious Black athlete.
The 60s and 70s gave us athletes such as Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson, Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Tommie Smith, John Carlos, Curt Flood, and Arthur Ashe. Decades later came figures such as John Thompson, Craig Hodges, and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. When Black men were being killed by law enforcement, athletes answered the call. The Heat donned hoodies for Treyvon Martin. The St. Louis Rams walked onto the field with their hands up in honor of Michael Brown. LeBron James and Derrick Rose wore “I can’t breathe” shirts in remembrance of Eric Garner and players from the WNBA wore “Black Lives Matter” shirts to games.
But Colin Kaepernick stands out as an individual. He was completely frozen out of the league, losing millions in the process. Yet while his career was forfeit his true calling flourished, blazing a path that inspired others to follow.
We’ve experienced confusion, hurt, viciousness, hate, and death over the last four years. With the arrival of the inauguration, we can begin to heal, motivate and uplift. That’s what Colin Kaepernick has been doing since he took a knee, something Trump would not.
Ironically, Trump gave rise to Kaepernick’s movement through his desire to fan the flames of hatred. Now he’s been removed from power while Colin is still going strong and bringing others along with him.
That’s an amazing four year run.
