CURTIS HENRY
Sports Editor
The national anthem protests in the National Football League that have taken place over the past 12+ months have never been about the forty-fifth president of the United States. The protests, ignited by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, have always been about the lack of racial equality in the United States and the overwhelming abuse of authority displayed by too many police officers in this country. The protests were a way for the men who had a platform to give a voice to the oppressed minorities in this country who lacked one.
That was the narrative. That was the intention. Then, white people got their hands on the narrative, and completely flipped it in a way that was convenient for white people to feel oppressed. Ironic, isn’t it?
Somehow, the majority white population took this narrative regarding oppressed minorities and manipulated it to their liking. The narrative quickly became one based on common sayings like “how are you oppressed when you make millions of dollars?” and “kneeling for the anthem is disrespectful to our troops and I won’t tolerate it.” Some have made the simpler claim to just “keep politics out of sports.”
The peaceful protests of the last year have garnered so much attention that the president made a point to voice his thoughts on the topic this past week at a rally in Alabama.
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when someone disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off of the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!” the president said.
It isn’t a coincidence that he saved his harshest language to date as acting president for the condemnation of protests rooted in the fight for racial equality. The president used harsher and more damning language directed at the likes of Colin Kaepernick than he used weeks ago when addressing the white supremacist rallies held in Charlottesville.
This divisive and racist rhetoric is nothing new to our president, but this may be the most obvious example to prove that the president condones racism.
The response of the NFL on Sunday was overwhelming. Nearly all 28 teams participated, in some extent, to a peaceful protest for unity and racial equality. Some players and owners locked arms, while many took a knee during the playing of the anthem on Sunday. Three teams: the Steelers, Titans and Seahawks, protested by not appearing for the anthem at all. Instead, each of the three aforementioned teams remained in their respective locker rooms as the anthem played.
Lost in all of these protests was the original intention of Colin Kaepernick kneeling for the anthem for the first time. That intention was shedding light on the lack of justice in this country and the disparity of how people are treated based on their race. Again, the narrative was misconstrued to one that wasn’t accurate.
This time, the narrative was framed as a message directed toward the president. While it was in response to the commander-in-chief’s most recent set of comments, it was moreso a reiteration of the original protest. It was a message of equality and of unity. The condemnation of the president was a part of the protests that took place, but it was only a small piece of the much larger picture.
Whether or not the protests will continue is yet to be seen, but one thing is for certain: it is no longer time to keep politics out of football. If ever the two needed to associate, the time would be now.
Colin Kaepernick may not have been listed on any rosters for the third week of the season, but it is obvious that his presence was felt in every stadium around the league on Sunday.