At a time when many NFL football teams need a quarterback, Colin Kaeprnick, a proven NFL quarterback, is unemployed.
Is it that Colin Kaeprnick, a once revered NFL quarterback, refused to stand for the National Anthem as a protest against police brutality, and racist police profiling.? Is the league sending a message? Is it that the league owners fear negative backlash from fans put off by Kap's quiet and peaceful protest?
His unemployed status poses a problem, but the problem is not Colin Kaepernick. The problem is that everybody is arguing about his protest rather than discussing the the issues raised by the protest. The press seeks everyone's opinion about his kneeling during the National Anthem; but why is the league, Roger Goodell, the owners, and the coaches not being questioned about their response to police brutality and police profiling?
The press is obsessed with the protest and the reaction to it, but ignores the issues causing the protest.
But this is not new. The establishment, when challenged, always attacks those presenting the challenge, rather than addressing the issues generating the protest. This occurred when women sought their voting rights, the unions sought to organize, blacks sought equal rights, and Americans opposed the War in in Vietnam and later in Iraq. However, in these cases, the message was always part of the story. In Kap's case, everyone has managed to avoid the message and focuses on his protest.
Whether taking a knee during the National Anthem is an appropriate protest is not the point. He is exercising his right to free speech in a peaceful manner. He is not breaking laws.
On the other hand, the NFL has a history of giving their players "a second chance" after they beat their spouses or shoot someone. What is different about Kaepernick's protest is that it calls attention to the issue of race, the issue neither the NFL nor the country wants to deal with,
Kaeprnick is not protesting against the police, he is trying to focus attention on police brutality and racism. In fact, this past weekend NYPD officers rallied in support of Kap getting a quarterback job in the NFL. (AP)
Let's face it, A football player used the huge NFL stage to remind us that racial injustice is still a glaring problem in our country. Unfortunately we have gone after the messenger and ignored the message.
The NFL owners should be hiring/or not hiring him based on his quaterback skills, not his use of free speech.
