News Flash: Taking a Knee
The American dream seems to have died
long ago. Lutie Johnson once proposed the idea that “Everyday we are choking
down that rage”. A rage that stems from the many injustices that are ignored in
society. We Americans love to pride ourselves on freedom of speech and freedom
of expression but as soon as someone decides to “rock the boat” it’s wrong. We
don’t want to have to deal with the hard stuff which is why we rather read
memes than read the news. We live in a country where being a parent, or more
importantly a mother, would make life more difficult (Crittenden, 2001). A
society in which being a woman makes is seen as weak. In this world being even
slightly darker than the walls of the average American hospital puts you at a
disadvantage for almost everything. What Kaepernick hopes to do with his
protest is to start a conversation about one of the issues that society ignores.
Now President Trump is a man of very few
words but the words he used to describe Kaepernick and his protest isn’t
something that should be regarded lightly as another one of his tantrums. In
the article "Colin Kaepernick has won: he wanted a
conversation and Trump started it.” Trump is calling his
fellow citizen a son of a B… because he decided to bring attention to the
racial injustice that is felt and seen throughout America. This same man
actually defended the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who sparked the
torchlight controversy in Charlottesville, Virginia (Cox, p.1). He said they
were just defending the past. Many people were hurt even killed on that day but
yet President Trump doesn’t call them out, he doesn’t try to do anything about
it. This is similar to what women experience and how they can’t say
or do certain things or else their actions will be condemned with extreme
consequences. A man can say “Give me liberty or give me death” but for a woman
to make the same statement she has to utter apologies and invalidate her stance
by making herself seem unsure and weak. Kaepernick in this situation is
condemned much like a woman would be.
In the article “NFL To Colin Kaepernick: We're Cool With Crime, But
Opinions Are Bad For Our Brand” it’s perceived that “offering an opinion while being black” is the
only crime Kaepernick actually committed. Kaepernick protested the United
States anthem, which in itself is a song that supports the tradition of slavery
and a racial divide. Americans tend to ignore the fact that this anthem has
more than one verse with lines like “No refuge could save the hireling and
slave” and “Then conquer we must”. These lines show the song was created to
celebrate the oppression of black people caused by whites. Kaepernick is being
pressed to stand and support a song that expresses how black people are
subordinate to the white man, which is similar to how women are oppressed by
men thorough sexist comments and actions. In class we talked about how something as insignificant as
holding a door open for a woman is a form of oppression because the man is
assuming she can’t do it herself so he needs to step in but when a woman
actually needs help men are nowhere to be found.
People are being hushed and are trying
to “take a knee” on the issue of racial injustice. Nobody is signing Kaepernick
to play on their team but when Michael Vick was actually sent to prison for a
crime he committed he was signed as soon as he got out (Forbes, 2017). Michael
Vick was the same age as Colin Kaepernick when Kaepernick decided to sit
instead of stand for the anthem causing racial injustice and police brutality
to be in the forefront of American’s minds. Michael Vick, while black didn’t
try to change the institutions the majority holds dear. It can be undoubtedly assumed
that Kaepernick is faced with a tough decision. On one hand he worked long and
hard to become a star quarterback and on the other he feels a need to speak up
for people who are unable to do so themselves. This leaves Kaepernick faced
with the decision of whether to continue to fight racial injustice in America
and lose all that he worked for, possibly never being able to play professional
football again, along with many Americans hating him or he can stop trying to
fight a war the majority doesn’t want to be fought. He’s losing options and
is facing the pressure to pick which door he wants to open, otherwise it will be chosen
for him. Unlike Kaepernick having an option, though it’s slowly being stripped
from him, women are seen as fragile creatures so decisions need to be made for
them by the ever so competent men. Women aren't claimed not to be smart enough or capable enough to follow their own self-made future.
What’s even more enraging is the fact
that Ray Lewis had the audacity to approach Kaepernick and tell him what he
does behind closed doors should remain a secret but once he opens these doors
he needs to basically put on a show (Forbes, 2017). These words of wisdom come
from a black man who was almost convicted of a double homicide and the only
reason he was let free was because he finally told his part in the crime while
also implicating his friends (Forbes, 2017). What Lewis tries to preach women
have been forced to practice for years. A woman must not utter a word
against another person always being proper. She must keep her true thoughts
locked away, never to be heard. A woman is allowed to be seen but her thoughts
and opinions must never be heard. In relation to a class discussion that we
had, a woman’s mind is filled with silly things such as love and having kids
never having anything serious to contribute to a man’s conversation.
Nobody knows who committed the murders Ray
Lewis was connected to but he was let free with a misdemeanor for his part in
the murders. My theory is that Lewis didn’t tell “the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth” rather just enough to implicate himself a tiny bit
and throw the blame at someone else. Lewis tries to add more pressure on
Kaepernick to just let the whole issue go and move on. Being a black man in a
country that literally targets you should make you want to stand up and fight
for equality. It makes no sense to tell someone who is advocating on your
behalf to hush up and follow the white man. Lewis is mesmerized by the jewels
and other shiny objects that he believes is being gifted to him while in
actuality it’s a tool being used as a leash to keep him at bay and follow his
master without causing any problems. Kaepernick is the prime example of being
trapped by society. He’s being pushed away from the team that once had his back
being called a “distraction” and is being blamed for “splitting” the locker
room, as discussed in “NFL GM: Colin Kaepernick lacks 'maturity,' leadership needed
from QB”. Nobody wants to hire the football player that
can think for himself. Nobody wants to believe that racism is still a prevalent
issue and a worthy cause to speak up against. Nobody wants to be told they are
privileged and that talent and skill alone weren’t the only reasons for the
easy life that they have.
In football the quarterback of the
winning team will often take a knee in order to waste time resulting in the end
of the play. Right now a knee is being taken and with fingers being crossed,
Kaepernick will fade into the background and eventually will be forgotten.
Time is being bought for this conversation to end and by making decisions more
difficult for Kaepernick he is backed into a corner where inevitably his
freedom of speech is being taken from him with punishments for his actions. The
situation with Kaepernick reminds me about the movement for women’s rights.
Women are now allowed to vote and are considered for more jobs than before, however
these are the jewels given to women to keep them distracted from the fact that
they make seventy-one cents to a man’s dollar (Jcombopiano, 2017). Both women and the situation Kaepernick is going through shows that the majority doesn't want to acknowledge the inequality within in it. Society wants to believe in fairy tales and rainbows and anyone who try's to obstruct this ideal needs to be taken care of.
-Tatiana F.
Bibliography
Carpenter, Les. "Colin Kaepernick has won: he
wanted a conversation and Trump started it." The Guardian. September 24, 2017. Accessed October 13, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/sep/24/colin-kaepernick-conversation donald-trump-anthem-kneel.
Cox, Karen L. "Analysis | The whole point of
Confederate monuments is to celebrate white supremacy."
The Washington Post. August 16, 2017. Accessed October 13, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/08/16/the-whole-pointof-confederate-monuments-is-to-celebrate-whitesupremacy/ tid=ss_fb&utm_term=.e15e9ff5e0a3.
Crittenden, Ann. "The Mommy Tax." In The
Price Of Motherhood, 87-109. 2001.
Day, Cartoon Of The. "NFL To Colin Kaepernick:
We're Cool With Crime, But Opinions Are Bad
For Our Brand." Forbes. August 12, 2017. Accessed October 13, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/cartoonoftheday/2017/08/06/nfl-ravens-to-colin kaepernick-were-cool-with-crime-but-opinions-are-bad-for-our-brand unpatriotic/#6172c7ca5937.
Herreria, Carla. "Donald Trump: Colin
Kaepernick Would've Stopped Protest If NFL Suspended
Him." The Huffington Post. October 11, 2017. Accessed October 13, 2017. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-nfl-suspension-would-stop-colin kaepernick_us_59dea778e4b0fdad73b1e7c1?utm_hp_ref=colin-kaepernick.
Jcombopiano. "Women's Earnings and
Income." Catalyst. June 21, 2017. Accessed October 13, 2017.
http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/womens-earnings-and-income.
"Killing Rage: Militant Resistance bell hooks."
Accessed October 13, 2017. http://www.bing.com/cr?IG=BCDD3B28A6234FB19C5DA1D3C0C149B3&CID=1F5078 8088264C33ECC73C209846599&rd=1&h=Gvky3f5mpClJGrSJRNAQBcxVvriVuex1mT 5eLJTo8o&v=1&r=http%3a%2f%2fthinkingtogether.org%2frcream%2farchive%2fOld% S2006%2fcomp%2fKillingRage.pdf&p=DevEx,5049.1.
Kristian Dyer Contributor @KristianRDyer Published
on Sep. 1, 2017 Sep. 1, 2017. "NFL GM: Colin
Kaepernick lacks 'maturity,' leadership needed from QB." Sporting News. September 01, 2017. Accessed October
13, 2017. http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/news/nfl-gm-colin-kaepernick-news-protests national-anthem-free-agency/rbykh567n51u1jgydgen8d4ns.
Petri, Alexandra. "Opinion | Famous quotes, the
way a woman would have to say themduring a
meeting." The Washington Post. October 13, 2015. Accessed October 13,
2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2015/10/13/jennifer-lawrencehas-a-point-famous-quotes-the-way-a-woman-would-have-to-say-them-during-ameeting/?utm_term=.f97b85b13c34.
Comments
Post a Comment