Colin Kaepernick on 4th of July: “How can we truly celebrate independence on a day that intentionally robbed our ancestors of theirs?”
July 6, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
From a reader:
Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback, sent out a tweet on July 4 saying, “How can we truly celebrate independence on a day that intentionally robbed our ancestors of theirs? To find my independence I went home.”
After that tweet he posted a statement and a video on Instagram that explained what he meant by going home:
“What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence?” - Frederick Douglass.
In a quest to find my personal independence, I had to find out where my ancestors came from. I set out tracing my African ancestral roots, and it lead me to Ghana. Upon finding out this information, I wanted to visit the sites responsible for myself (and many other Black folks in the African Diaspora) for being forced into the hells of the middle passage. I wanted to see a fraction of what they saw before reaching the point of no return…
Kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem last NFL season after he announced that “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” At that time, he made a visual statement about police murder and brutality when he wore socks with a pig wearing a police cap during one of the team’s practices. In response to Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, of “Make America great again,” Kaepernick said, “Well America has never been great for people of color and that’s something that needs to be addressed.”
Kaepernick led the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2013. After last season, he opted out of his contract with the 49ers. But despite having an excellent season, he remains unsigned by any team at this time, which has prompted several players to say that Kap is being blackballed for his political views.
Kaepernick has made it clear that he wants to play again, but he has not backed off his principles in order to have a team sign him. On June 16, after the acquittal of the pig who murdered Philando Castile, he tweeted, “A system that perpetually condones the killing of people, without consequence, doesn't need to be revised, it needs to be dismantled!” With that tweet he posted a meme that had two badges—one of a “Runaway Slave Patrol” and one of a “Police Officer” with the words “You can’t ignore your history. Always remember who they are.”
For more, see revcom articles about Kaepernick here and here.
Get a free email subscription to revcom.us:
Volunteers Needed... for revcom.us and Revolution
If you like this article, subscribe, donate to and sustain Revolution newspaper.