Really struck by the fact that Kaepernick’s ongoing silent, peaceful protest was deeply, rage-inducingly unacceptable to white America.
I mean, it was literally an example of everything that Black America is told that protest must be to be acceptable.
But it wasn’t.
Didn’t damage property. Didn’t block traffic. Didn’t interrupt shopping. Didn’t make noise. Didn’t even say anything, until someone asked.
“He’s not even a great player,” they said, as if there is some score that earns a human being the right to sit, quiet, for two minutes.
And now, they cheer that Kaepernick is out of work. As he literally donates his earnings to feed people whose meals they’re defunding.
I don’t put much weight behind “breaking rules will hurt the cause,” in large part because i watch what happens when people DO follow them.
Follow your conscience, yes… But Kaepernick’s treatment is a prime example of what PoC mean when they critique “respectability politics.”