I’m Still With Kap
It’s been 2,593 days since Colin Kaepernick played football for the National Football League. Two thousand five hundred and ninety-three days since Kaepernick last took a knee during the National Anthem, symbolically standing up against the oppressive systems of our nation. Two thousand five hundred and ninety-three days since the NFL began to actively collude against Kaepernick, blackballing him from playing and subsequently shifting the trajectory of the league’s persona. It has also been 2,593 days since I last watched an NFL game.
As the nation gears up for parties, appetizers, and random celebrity appearances in commercials, for me “Super Sunday” represents the sad realization that organizations continue to disregard Black people’s experiences, despite our unwavering support.
Some may call it a boycott, others may call it standing on business, I simply call it refusing to support an institution that has so blatantly disregarded the experiences of Black Americans. NFL athletes – most who are Black men – have worked to be the best at their craft, risking their lives weekly to generate billions of dollars for an institution that continues to disregard the experiences of their community.
Pressure from the social justice movement of 2020 following George Floyd’s murder (three years after Kaepernick’s protest) brought necessary changes to the NFL. Now they’re requiring all teams to have a person in charge of DEI and have even partnered with rapper turned mogul, Jay-Z, to expand their social justice agenda and revamp their halftime show, but these efforts are simply tap dancing around the real issue – racism.
The League is plagued with lawsuits from Black coaches, for violating their Rooney Rule designed to ensure clubs conduct an in-person interview with at least two external diverse candidates. And they’re still denying the long-term impact of chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE, a condition that has had devastating effects on former players. In other words, ain’t nothin’ changed. They gave us Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna and Usher for halftime performances, sprinkled with the Black National before kick-off and all is seemingly well with the Black community.
My frustration isn’t with the NFL. After all, systemic racism can’t be changed overnight and what institution in America isn’t riddled with racism, right? My frustration is with all the Black, brown, white and allies to marginalized communities who continue to support an institution who has repeatedly shown us their bottom line is all that matters.
At this point, the days will continue adding to the 2,593 sum. Colin Kaepernick will probably never play in the NFL again and I will continue with my Sunday hair washing routine without football playing in the background. I just wonder - what it will take for Black fans to start demanding more for the institutions they continue to make so successful?