Most times, it's that I was in school, or work became a lot that it was too much to keep up with. This year though something bigger happened. Who we are-our identities, if we mean to be true to ourselves, can not be compartmentalized. There are times when the things we love collide and come into conflict with each other. This season was one of those-- in the backdrop of the 2016 season was national and political distress. The intersections of race and culture were too close for comfort.
What once seemed like a break from the things going on in the world, collided within the 2016 season. Summer 2016 was ripe with police violence among Black men. Over the course of a couple of weeks, there were two major cases of Black men dying at the hands of police and then there was a mass shooting against police officers in Dallas. Not to mention, attacks in France, Orlando (Pulse nightclub) and a rising Presidential election. It was too much.
I couldn't get into my rhythm of wrapping myself into the release that has been football. I was pulled into the details of what for me was more important. So for that I apologize to my followers.
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In the 2016 season, football like most times became a break from all of what was happening around. But then through one singular act, there was a reminder that you can't compartmentalize REAL life and that the intersections of being human, can not be relegated based on your profession or salient identity.
Colin Kaepernick, then backup Quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers chose to kneel during the national anthem, to shed light on the plight of Black men in this country at the hands of police. His act of protest caused a firestorm of commentary. Many applauded his courage and it sparked athletes throughout the league and in other sports to take similar actions. Many were also outraged by his form of protest and called for action against Kaepernick.
Throughout the season Kaepernick continued to kneel during the National Anthem. He also began speaking up and out more, in interviews and in his social media, calling attention to the ills he was seeing against the Black community. He started an organization to lift up, guide and mentor young people of color in the San Francisco area. He also committed to giving money to organizations that would build support for communities. There is something to be said about someone becoming aware of an issue and caring about it to want to see a difference made. For those of us in this work of social justice, it's not about how or when a person gets there, but that they get there and stay their. Committed to the work.
Fast forward, the 2016 season ended. Colin Kaepernick is a Free Agent and he currently remains unsigned- Why does he remain unsigned?
Good question!
Is it because of his skills? In 2016 the 49ers season was abysmal. While a backup quarterback, Kaepernick's stats were still relatively positive and in comparison to some of his colleagues in the Free Agent pool, were better than even them. Yes you could make the argument that Kaepernick is inconsistent, but he's also not being developed as a QB and the reality is the 49ers as an organization has a lot to improve on, in how they invest in their players.
Is it because he has had a "colored" image, according to the NFL's standards?
To this I have to laugh. The NFL, isn't great at setting what they believe should be the ethical/moral image of their athletes. In all actuality they are the league of double standards and of a weak backbone, when they are meant to have rules. A tweet popped up that Johnny Manziel was being courted by some teams. This folks is the same Johnny Manziel who was supposed to have a rockstar season his Rookie year, and he definitely lived it up like a Rockstar, that's for sure!
What was frustrating about teams entertaining Manziel was what it boiled down to--- If Kaepernicks' being overlooked was about his performance that could be one thing. I would even have to resign myself that it would be acceptable if Kaepernick's behavior warranted him being overlooked. But this is NOT what is happening. Johnny Manziel DIDN'T EVEN PLAY in 2016. And if you think overall, Kaep has playoff and Superbowl experience. Did Kaep have his name splattered in the news because of domestic violence, drugs, DUI or some other ethical standard?
NO. Kaepernick did one thing, disrupted the NFL's brand and ultimately messed with the NFL's money, that he is now being blackballed.
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I am not a team owner. I don't work for the NFL, although I would love to one day. I get a brand's reputation. I understand the business that is the NFL. But this blackballing of Colin Kaepernick continues to pile on reasons why the NFL will continue to be misguided in what they value. There is not formative stance on the league's response to cases of Domestic Violence and how they respond to the athletes and the individuals who are involved. The NFL doesn't seem to have a standard when it comes to cases of sexual assault and whether it is truly an issue they have to do better about being responsible for.
Kaepernick didn't cause physical harm to anyone, he didn't directly tarnish the reputation of the NFL,
but the NFL is taking a stand, and what is being valued is their bottom line, their money and wanting to ensure that the league as a whole doesn't take a hit.
There is something else in the undertone of Kaepernick's situation, that is bigger than finances and it's one that is being called out by many in questioning why Kaep still hasn't been signed.
As a Black woman, I can't help but see the similarities in the NFL's actions and the actions of some of these owners, to maintain a "code of conduct" that parallels that of Jim Crow mentality. What I mean by this, is there is a message that is being sent through the ousting of Kaepernick, to keep "the boys in line." Kaepernick was the catalyst that sparked many other athletes to take a knee or speak out against what was happening nationally. But it was Kaepernick who remained the focal point. It is through Kaepernick that the NFL can attempt to maintain a standard. When the majority of your athletes are men of color. This standard is so problematic and reinforces institutionalized forms of oppression in so many ways.
It also just raises the question for me in regards to the NFL. What do you STAND for?
I don't expect organizations to take stances in the way that Ben & Jerry's has.
Courtesy of Ben & Jerry's Instagram
Although it would be nice. Businesses are businesses. As a fan of this league, I am beginning to see the NFL lately as soulless--- what do you stand for, if your intervention on cases of domestic violence is questionable. If your standards on player behavior is so blurred and ripe with double standards.
Is there a resolution?:
I don't know if my outcome is that I want Kaepernick to be signed.
Because I don't want him to be made a Michael Sam, in that, I don't want him to be signed for the sake of being "inclusive." Side comment, I am not minimizing the significance of Michael Sam's signing as an openly gay man in the league. But my observance of his signing felt tainted--- In the seasons before some teams were in the spotlight for accusations of harassment and bullying of allegedly gay players by their teammates. His signing painted the NFL in a more positive light without having to formally address the behavior of these athletes.
I guess in the Kaepernick case I want acknowledgement that there is something a little shady happening. I want acknowledgement that we're not making this stuff up when we say that institutionalized oppression even continues to infiltrate one of our greatest pastimes. I want there to be some type of acknowledgement by the NFL as an organization that I have loved to do better. In some ways I want it to be a microexperience of what I hope can happen on a macro level within the United States as a whole--- reconciliation.
As Shannon Sharpe noted during an episode of Fox Sports' (FS1) Undisputed with Skip Bayless
My biggest comment is that I hope that athletes are not seeing what's happening to Kaepernick and becoming more silent. There was something that was so powerful, in watching athletes recognize they were more than their positions and being reminded that they have an ability to speak boldly for the things that they care about. It is the most infuriating thing for me to hear more versed political speakers, communicating that celebrities "need to stick to what they know." Politics and social change, it is personal. And the personal is political. We are human and we can not be absent of recognizing the intersections of our identity. I hope that what seemed to breakthrough the different sports continues as these athletes begin to recognize the strengths of their platforms to continue to push our society forward.
Courtesy of @ayym2312 on Instagram
Courtesy of USA Today article 9 powerful photos of NFL players who protested during the national anthem
That's all she wrote folks.
