Here in part is what I wrote on this topic in “Delusional Kaepernick Standing Up by Sitting Down During National Anthem,” on August 30:
[T]his protest smacks of grandstanding. And it’s only slightly less lazy and misguided than people who think (re)tweeting slogans about injustice is tantamount to fighting for justice.
Of course, Rosa Parks and the ‘Greensboro Four’ famously showed the meaningful way to sit down to stand up for racial justice…
The point is that there are many ways Kaepernick can stand up for his cause without showing wanton disrespect for the pride so many people have in the American flag. I urge him to find another way.
Unsurprisingly, I took a lot of flak for refusing to express unqualified support for Kaepernick’s protest. Never mind that the flak I’d already taken for refusing to chant “Black Lives Matter” without qualification inoculated me against trolling racial jihadists.
Yet I can think of no greater vindication of my take than having Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (aka the “Notorious RBG”) affirm it. And the irony is not lost on me that she’s not only white, but old to boot.
Here’s the authoritative opinion she handed down during an interview on Monday with Yahoo Global News:
I think it’s dumb and disrespectful…
I think it’s a terrible thing to do, but I wouldn’t lock a person up for doing it. I would point out how ridiculous it seems to me to do such an act.
Mind you, I gather from their criticisms that those trolling me are academically and politically challenged when it comes to the historical context of this protest. Hence, they’d probably dismiss Ginsburg as too cloistered in her ivory tower to appreciate the pedestrian frustrations and fears that inspired this protest.
Therefore, let me hasten to note that, if any white woman can claim to have mirrored Rosa Parks as a civil rights pioneer, it’s the Notorious RBG. If you don’t know why (because she’s not a narcissistic, selfie-taking Instagram star), shame on you! Google her!
Meanwhile, despite viral interest initially, Kaepernick’s protest has had relatively little media coverage lately; primarily because Kaepernick has been spending more time on the bench than on the field. But that will change this weekend:
The 49ers are making a change at quarterback and going with Colin Kaepernick as their starter for Week 6 against the Bills…
This puts an otherwise innocuous matchup against Buffalo firmly in the spotlight for multiple reasons…
His decision to sit and then kneel before football games in protest of the national anthem has created controversy around the NFL and in the general world.
(CBS Sports, October 11, 2016)
I predicted in the August 30 commentary cited above that the 49ers would release Kaepernick before mid-season “for distracting too much, while contributing too little.” I was wrong.
I just hope he plays well enough so that the highlight of this game features him destroying the Bills instead of dissing the Anthem.
Related commentaries:
Kaepernick…