• About Us
  • Contact
  • Join our Newsletter!
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
BasedinBLK
49 °f
New York
52 ° Wed
44 ° Thu
53 ° Fri
58 ° Sat
54 ° Sun
  • Home
    • All
    • Opinion
    • Podcast
    • Politics
    • Pop Culture
    • Sports
    • US
    Post Office warns states across US about mail voting

    Post Office warns states across US about mail voting

    Harris bringing energy, dollars and more to Biden’s campaign

    Harris bringing energy, dollars and more to Biden’s campaign

    Is Reverse Racism A Thing?

    Is Reverse Racism A Thing?

    Kyrie Irving Commits $1.5M to Support WNBA Players Who Opted Out of 2020 Season

    Kyrie Irving Commits $1.5M to Support WNBA Players Who Opted Out of 2020 Season

    Kim Kardashian Spotted in Wyoming With Kanye West

    Kim Kardashian Spotted in Wyoming With Kanye West

    Mayors want US agents blocked from Portland, 5 major cities

    Mayors want US agents blocked from Portland, 5 major cities

    Trending Tags

    • Kanye West
    • Trump
    • Black America
    • Joe Biden
  • US
  • Politics
  • Pop Culture
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Podcast
  • Home
    • All
    • Opinion
    • Podcast
    • Politics
    • Pop Culture
    • Sports
    • US
    Post Office warns states across US about mail voting

    Post Office warns states across US about mail voting

    Harris bringing energy, dollars and more to Biden’s campaign

    Harris bringing energy, dollars and more to Biden’s campaign

    Is Reverse Racism A Thing?

    Is Reverse Racism A Thing?

    Kyrie Irving Commits $1.5M to Support WNBA Players Who Opted Out of 2020 Season

    Kyrie Irving Commits $1.5M to Support WNBA Players Who Opted Out of 2020 Season

    Kim Kardashian Spotted in Wyoming With Kanye West

    Kim Kardashian Spotted in Wyoming With Kanye West

    Mayors want US agents blocked from Portland, 5 major cities

    Mayors want US agents blocked from Portland, 5 major cities

    Trending Tags

    • Kanye West
    • Trump
    • Black America
    • Joe Biden
  • US
  • Politics
  • Pop Culture
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Podcast
No Result
View All Result
BasedinBLK
Home Home Sports

Colin Kaepernick is the black Grinch for those who dream of a white America

The tactics used to discredit the former quarterback are how conservative America has always treated black athletes who speak out

by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
July 20, 2020
in Sports
0
Colin Kaepernick is the black Grinch for those who dream of a white America
0
SHARES
29
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Colin Kaepernick sent a tweet on Thanksgiving and the white-wing media wants to make sure you know about it. Breitbart, the Washington Times, Fox News and the rest of the usual suspects quickly reported the contents of this provocative tweet: “Spent the morning at the Indigenous People’s Sunrise Ceremony on the 50 year anniversary of the Occupation of Alcatraz. The US government has stolen over 1.5 billion acres of land from Indigenous people. Thank you to my Indigenous family, I’m with you today and always.”

Just in case that benign announcement didn’t raise the Defcon 1: Apocalypse Looming alarm in your head, Fox started the “news” story by editorializing the contents: “Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick had an odd way of celebrating Thanksgiving, attending an event that appeared to serve as a rebuke to the holiday and the United States.” News reports aren’t supposed to tell us it’s an “odd way” unless they already want to bias the reader. Say it ain’t so, Fox! The conservative political site the Blaze’s headline also wanted to make sure the readers don’t have to burden themselves with thinking: “Colin Kaepernick bashes America on Thanksgiving, participates in ‘Unthanksgiving Day’ celebration.”

Technically, pointing out a fact isn’t “bashing.” America’s forefathers did indeed steal the land from the indigenous people, often over their dead bodies. Just as indigenous people stole land from other tribes. That’s just historical fact. Like pointing out to grandpa that his zipper is open. I’m not bashing him, just stating a truth. So, why the panicky attacks on Kaepernick? Clearly, there’s something much more insidious going on here: the sustained attempt to steal Kaepernick’s political voice by characterizing him as un-American. The Black Grinch who wants to steal White Christmas American values.

It always starts with character assassination. In 1964, after an intense campaign to label him as a communist, an audio tape was sent to Dr Martin Luther King Jr purportedly of an extra-marital sexual encounter. With the tape was a letter calling him an “abnormal moral imbecile” and encouraging him to commit suicide before “your filthy, abnormal, fraudulent self is bared to the nation.” The tape and letter were sent by the FBI. Calling King a communist was how the FBI justified its relentless campaign of bugging King, his family, and friends and aggressive harassment against him. The campaign was effective because in 1966, 75% of Americans did not support King. The irony is that the moral values that determined King’s crusade were rooted in his devotion to Christianity, not communism. Yet, it was mostly Christians who rejected their own supposed beliefs because they were espoused by a black man who literally embodied Jesus’s teaching of turn-the-other-cheek. History has taught us over and over that religious values are quickly abandoned when they conflict with economics or traditional social norms.

This attempt to drown out Kaepernick’s voice by shouting unfounded personal insults has been going on since he first took a knee during the national anthem in 2016. But really it’s how conservative America has always treated African American athletes who speak out, whether it’s Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Tommie Smith, John Carlos, or any of the others. It’s the equivalent of sticking fingers in their ears while shouting, “Nyah, nyah, nyah, I can’t hear you.”

Kaepernick’s highly publicized tryout last month did not seem designed to seriously consider him for readmittance into the NFL. Instead, it looked like a media-savvy sham-show to make the NFL look like the good guys while destroying Kaepernick’s credibility as an athlete and therefore as a spokesman for anything, be it social justice or Nike. When the NFL refused to allow the media to attend and insisted on sole control over the video of the tryout, Kaepernick balked and moved the location so that the media could attend and no one could control how the world witnessed his football skills. The NFL also wanted him to sign a contract apparently agreeing not to sue the league if he wasn’t signed. There was no point to this unusual set-up except to promote a progressive image for the NFL: “See, we’re no longer trying to silence an outspoken athlete. We’ve evolved. We’re woke, baby!” Not really.

Neither the focus on his tweet nor the NFL pretense of his tryout are really about Colin Kaepernick, the man or the player. They are about all the other athletes who conservatives are trying to preemptively silence. NBA superstars like LeBron James and Steph Curry are impervious to this kind of treatment, in part because the NBA didn’t campaign to blackball them. Fox News, Breitbart, and the other mouthpieces of entitlement and walling-off-the-truth can’t touch them. But other players, especially young ones working their way up through the ranks, may be stifled by the example of Kaepernick left to twist in the wind of no-change.

Efforts to silence the black community and all others who speak out for rights has only gotten worse under the Trump administration. Political and social disagreement and discourse, which are the foundations of our country, have been punished. Aggressive efforts have been made to keep African Americans and college students from voting. Lifelong patriots in our government and military were attacked and belittled during impeachment inquiries. And those who have questioned why so many unarmed black people have been killed by the police have now been told by Attorney General William Barr, “[Americans] have to start showing, more than they do, the respect and support that law enforcement deserves,” adding that “if communities don’t give that support and respect, they might find themselves without the police protection they need.” This is the clearest most direct threat yet: “Shut up or die.”

Fifty years ago, 14 black football players from the University of Wyoming were kicked off the team because they asked their coach if they could wear a black armband in solidarity with the campus group, the Black Student Alliance. The armbands were to protest Brigham Young University, which Wyoming was scheduled to play, because of the Mormon Church’s refusal to allow black parishioners to become clergy, which every white member was entitled to. (This rule was abolished in 1978.) The team recalled that the previous year, when playing at BYU, their opponents spat at them, used racial slurs, and took cheap shots at their knees on the field. The Wyoming coach had ignored his players’ complaints. So, when they walked into the coach’s office to explain what they wanted to do, the coach interrupted them with, “As of this moment, you are no longer members of the Wyoming football team.” The players said he followed it with a racist rant that included telling them to return to their fatherless inner-city homes and live off welfare. The only thing the coach admitted to saying to these athletes was “Shut up!”

For much longer than 50 years people have been ordering truth-tellers to shut up and punishing them when they refuse. I’m sure their tactics have silenced some athletes. Not all. They can never silence all because the kind of grit it takes to become an athlete is the same kind it takes to place truth above self-interest. But they sure will keep on trying as long as they get paid to pander to those who wrap themselves in the pretty colors of the flag rather than the bold words of the Constitution.

Via: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Tags: Black America
Previous Post

God, abortion and better acoustics: Kanye West launches campaign with chaotic rally

Next Post

Host of NFL stars attack NFL for having ‘no clear plan’ over Covid-19

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an American icon, legendary NBA champion and recipient of the 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom. His latest book Mycroft & Sherlock Holmes - the Empty Birdcage is his third novel in true Victorian style

Next Post
Host of NFL stars attack NFL for having ‘no clear plan’ over Covid-19

Host of NFL stars attack NFL for having 'no clear plan' over Covid-19

Discussion about this post

‘The Wonder Years’ is getting a reboot with a Black family
Pop Culture

‘The Wonder Years’ is getting a reboot with a Black family

by Lisa Respers France
July 11, 2020
Is Reverse Racism A Thing?
Opinion

Is Reverse Racism A Thing?

by Madyson Beckford
August 14, 2020
Idris Elba Inks First-Look Deal With Apple TV+
Pop Culture

Idris Elba Inks First-Look Deal With Apple TV+

by FNR TIGG
July 13, 2020
Kim Kardashian Spotted in Wyoming With Kanye West
Pop Culture

Kim Kardashian Spotted in Wyoming With Kanye West

by Complex
July 28, 2020

Quick Reads

No Content Available
BasedinBLK

© 2020 BasedinBlk -WordPress.

Navigate Site

  • About Us
  • Contact Us!
  • Home
  • Join our Newsletter!

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • US
  • Politics
  • Pop Culture
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Podcast
  • Login

© 2020 BasedinBlk -WordPress.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

*By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.