Throughout the last few weeks, there has been a national outcry regarding San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's decision to kneel during the national anthem. Disheartened by the inequalities that African Americans face on a daily basis, especially in regard to police brutality, Kaepernick feels that he has no choice but to kneel during the anthem. “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said. “There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder... To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.”
Rather than focusing on Kaepernick's decision to kneel, which I feel is valid and is a right that he and any other American can exercise, or the movement that he has inspired across the nation (a high school football team in Seattle recently began kneeling during the song: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nfl-anthem-highschool-idUSKCN11N0I4), this blog post will focus on the criticism the west coast quarterback has received, especially in the American South. More specifically, I will focus on the hypocrisy of many Americans (these are, for the most part, Southern whites, but others across the country do this, too) who support the right to fly a Confederate flag but simultaneously bash and slander Kaepernick for kneeling during the national anthem.
Arguing that Kaepernick is showing a total lack of respect for soldiers who have fought and died for the flag (or the ideals the flag represents), many Confederate flag supporters have criticized the quarterback for being un-American. At the same time, though, they fly a flag that represents an attempt to forcefully secede from the United States in order to protect an institution that extinguished freedom and liberty and subjected black Americans to inhumane treatment. Challenging Kaepernick's decision to kneel, therefore, is a blatant show of hypocrisy by these rebel flag wavers. After all, they display a flag that supports an army who killed hundreds of thousands of American soldiers. How can they argue that Kaepernick is alone in showing disrespect when they are doing something that is arguably much worse? (Note - I do not believe Kaepernick is being disrespectful. I think he is exercising his right of freedom of speech.)
Their anger over the flag presents one major problem, displaying the hypocrisy of their beliefs. But their reactions to Kaepernick's kneeling are perhaps even more troubling. Taking to social media, many angry people have resorted to burning Kaepernick's jersey and filming the ordeal, showing how vehemently they oppose his actions. If this doesn't invoke images of lynching in the American South, I don't know what would. These people are upset that Kaepernick is stepping out of social norms by not standing for the flag; they react by burning his jersey, seeking to show him how little they care about him as a person. It's sickening, and it brings to mind the disturbing images that Ida B. Wells puts forth in Southern Horrors.
If Confederate flag bearers are going to rail against Kaepernick and burn his jersey, they should be burning the rebel flag, too, and raging against anyone who dares fly the flag of the Confederacy. But they won't. Because, for many Kaepernick-haters, this issue is not about respecting the American flag -- it's about race.
Brooks, your post points out many problematic issues within our society as a whole. It's interesting how white Americans rally behind black athletes--until they realize those athletes are actually black. Essentially when you look at history, such as events like the 1968 Olympics Black Power Salute or Jackie Robinson's 1972 autobiography, there is a trend. I feel like there is a reinforcement of black individuals existing to perform for white citizens. So, when you have a black person stepping out of their boundaries of performance to speak out about their very, BLACK experiences, it's a problem. Like you mentioned, it goes back to Ida B. Wells Southern Horrors--when a black person does not act as expected, they are no longer being a "good Negro". We have seen many instances of African Americans who had to endure the consequences of no longer being considered "good". During slavery, there were beatings, selling them, etc. During Jim Crow times, there was lynching, economic denial (losing jobs, run out of homes, damages to their property), etc. Essentially, the angry white citizens get rid of those that don't adhere to their expectations. I feel like burning Kaepernick's jersey symbolically represents the disposing of him. This response to Kaepernick's peaceful protest really exposes just how far black and white relations have come in the past few centuries.
ReplyDeleteOver the summer, a similar situation happened during the Rio Olympics gymnastics metal ceremony. The U.S.A. gold medal winner, Gabby Douglas, did not hold her hand over her heart during the National Anthem while standing on the podium with the rest of her teammates. On twitter, Douglas received many critical remarks from people. The comments ranged from comparing her to Donald Trump, calling her a lousy teammate, saying she had no pride and respect for American traditions, and that she was pledging her allegiance to the Black Lives Matter movement. Unfortunately, I believe a lot of the criticism directed towards her was racial motivated because she was an African American woman who did not put her hand over her heart. She ended up apologizing over social media tweeting, “I never meant any disrespect and apologize if I offended anyone.” I followed up with the story for a couple of days after the controversy happened, and found out that her father, Timothy Douglas, is a sergeant of the U.S. Air Force. I was astonished that people could argue that Douglas lacked respect for the people serving our country when her father (who has never had the chance to watch Douglas perform at the Olympics) is overseas risking his life daily for all American citizens.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ew.com/article/2016/08/10/gabby-douglas-responds-national-anthem-controversy
Thanks for your thoughts, Brooks. Your post highlights a constant question for me: why are people more upset about the reaction to the injustice rather than the injustice itself? I think the answer to this question goes back to what Raven was saying about "black individuals existing to perform for white citizens". Some white people are so committed to the social hierarchy established during slavery and reinforced during Jim Crow that they will "punish" whoever steps out of the social order.
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