My goodness, by the vitriol being spewed at him you would think Colin Kaepernick had dipped a puppy in tar, set it on fire and flung it into a pit of ravenous crocodiles.
What the San Francisco 49ers quarterback actually did was exercise his constitutional right as an American to peacefully protest by “taking a knee” during the national anthem before a football game.
How we got to the point that professional sports and over-the-top nationalism are so inextricably linked is mind-boggling. National anthems at sporting events should be discontinued, but that is a subject for another day.
Before I get to the illogical and ironic negative reaction to Kaepernick’s action, I should note there has also been positive reaction, something that is getting lost in the hyperbole.
That being said, let’s dissect some of the more illogical and ironic anti-Kaepernick derision.
It has been said that Kaepernick is protesting against America, a straw man argument designed to put a negative spin on his actions and deflect from the actual protest, which is against systemic racism and injustice. This argument is also ironic because what the football star is doing is not un-American or anti-American, in fact, it is quintessentially American.
Then there is the non-sequitur argument that it is disrespectful to veterans. How exactly does exercising the rights soldiers fought and died to protect disrespect them? Do people who advance these arguments even think about what they are saying or are they being intentionally deceitful? Again, the irony is stunning.
I refuse to believe the United States is so fragile it cannot withstand a little criticism on the sidelines of a football field, yet some people have even gone so far as to suggest Kaepernick should get out. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he should “find a country that works better for him.” Even saying so suggests the United States is not a country that allows dissent.
Let’s face it, stupid statements such as that—nobody does stupid better than the Donald—presuppose the country is perfect exactly the way it is. Nobody believes that, least of all Trump who constantly berates the United States saying it has become the “world’s whipping boy,” calling the American military “a disaster” and publicly approving of the authoritarian Russian president Vladimir Putin over American president Barack Obama. For heaven’s sake, Trump’s campaign slogan is “Make America Great Again.”
And therein lies the craziness of the anti-Kapernick reaction because so many of the very people who supposedly love America and freedom so much they are appalled by his “disrespectful behaviour” appear to believe the Constitution should only apply to those who agree with their particular brand of America-bashing.
It is particularly poignant this controversy is boiling over in such close proximity with the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on New York City. The freedom to express disillusionment, discomfort, disgust or dismay with certain aspects of our societies’ performance is precisely what separates us from the people who would attack our way of life. People should be applauding Kaepernick for taking a stand, or a sit, as it were.
This is applicable to us in Canada as well. Unfortunately, rather than bolster our commitment to our rights and freedoms, it has fostered fear and intolerance. Rather than bringing us together on common ground, it has polarized us into increasingly intransigent camps.
We need to stop conflating differences of opinion with being unpatriotic, stop scapegoating and get down to solving these problems .
As much as we like to believe in North America that we live in a post-racist society, we do not. We have a racism problem, both south and north of the border. That is what Kaepernick is trying to raise awareness of and the first step to fixing it is admitting it exists.
