Colin Kaepernick, NFL quarterback, has come under fire recently for kneeling during the National Anthem to protest police brutality. Many critics considered the act ‘un-American’ and ‘disrespectful’ among other things. They call him out for ‘playing into racial violence’ and they say that he promotes ‘hate’ for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
To those critics I say: wake the hell up. Colin Kaepernick is not the enemy of all things American. He is not a threat to freedom, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He should not be compared to a terrorist or a traitor or any other label people have branded him. He is not everything that is wrong with this country.
But here is a list of people that are.
1. Police officer Betty Shelby, who was charged for killing an unarmed black man as he held his hands up above his head.
2. Police officer Jeronimo Yanez who shot and killed black man as he was raising his arms back up after telling the officer he had a legally obtained gun in his car in an open carry state.
3. Unnamed North Carolina police officers who shot and killed a black man carrying what they say is a gun. The dead man’s lawyer claims that he was “non-aggressive” and that he had been on medication for a traumatic brain injury at the time.
4. Police officer Jonathan Aledda who shot a black man trying to help his autistic patient. The man they shot was lying on the ground with his hands up and—you guessed it—unarmed.
5. Police officer Daniel Pantaleo who choked a black man to death on the streets of New York while being filmed by bystanders. Pantaleo, or any other cops on the scene, were not convicted for his death.
6. Police officer Brian Encinia who pulled over a black woman for failing to signal as she changed lanes. He allegedly tasered her, broke her wrists, and slammed her head against the ground. She was later found dead in her cell; it was ruled as a suicide.
7. Police officer Michael T. Slager who shot and killed an unarmed black man running away in fear.
8. Police officer James Burns who shot and killed an unarmed black man for driving away from a parking lot. The officer initially claimed that the man was a suspect in an attempted car robbery, but there is no evidence to support that there even was an attempted break in.
9. Police officer Bryan Mason who shot and killed a black 13-year-old boy for carrying a BB gun.
10. Police officers Blaine Salamoni and Howie Lake who shot and killed a black man point blank as he was already restrained on the ground.
In this list, 9 out of 10 people were killed in an altercation with police. Does anyone else get a sense of déjà vu? Is there some sort of pattern; a common thread between these cases? You tell me: could this be the reason why Colin Kaepernick decided to protest, or do more people of color have to be murdered by the police before he's justified in taking a knee?
And in that case: How may more will die before we stop productive conversations about police brutality with "Not All Cops"? How many more families will take legal matters in their own hands because the corrupt justice system has failed them? How many more victims will be buried before the act of killing an innocent person of color is considered more 'unpatriotic' and 'un-American' than a peaceful protest? How many more cell phone videos and body-cams and hashtags and pictures do you need to recognize that there is a genuine, systemic problem in America and it isn't some football player's decorum?
To Terence Crutcher, Philando Castile, Keith Scott, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Walter Scott, Dervais Rogers, Tyre King, Alton Sterling, respectively, and the many, many others who have died at the hands of police, Rest In Power. You are not the first, but I hope you are the last.
