If you’re a human being in the United States of America with a perfunctory knowledge of the English language then you have probably heard about events surrounding the Football Player, Colin Kaepernick. However, in the interest of not making any assumptions, I’ll go quickly go over the basics. During the recitation of the national anthem before a football game Colin Kaepernick refused to stand, since, and I’m paraphrasing, he “won’t stand for a country that oppresses African Americans.” That’s the summation of the action that Colin Kaepernick did--unfortunately, things get less simple from here on out.
People have come to oppose Colin Kaepernick in all sorts of ways, with everything ranging from ‘he’s not really black!’ to ‘he was never really oppressed’ and the classic ‘he doesn’t respect the soldiers who died!’ Most of these arguments are people jumping on the bandwagon at best and unsound at most. His race doesn’t really matter if the facts are the facts, his oppression doesn’t really matter if there’s an injustice, and just because soldiers died doesn’t mean you are required to do what they wanted you to do. No, the opposition of Colin Kaepernick seems to miss the point, there is a glaring issue with Colin Kaepernick's actions and that’s the issue of efficacy.
Protesting an injustice is generally seen as a positive action. It’s a good idea to stand up for those who are less fortunate and attempt to change people’s opinions and perspectives about an issue or to even raise awareness of the issue isn’t popular. I cannot speak with certainty but Colin Kaepernick's actions were probably done with good intentions, he saw that there was a problem and he wanted to fix it. However, what he caused was not people addressing the issue (that is the mistreatment of African-Americans by Police) but rather people addressing him. The frenzy that has ensued around Colin Kaepernick has not at all touched upon the point Colin Kaepernick was trying to make.
The objections that have been levied are levied not against the issue that Colin Kaepernick was protesting but rather they have been levied against Colin Kaepernick himself. His attempt to raise awareness for an issue has been fruitless and he himself has turned into an issue all on his own. People aren’t rallying against justice or injustice, rather they’re rallying against Colin Kaepernick's choices as an individual that is to stand or not to stand. This completely misses the idea he was attempting to achieve.
When one is attempting to bring awareness about an issue, whether they do or do not bring awareness to that issue is the barometer for efficacy. Whether they have the right to bring that issue to the public awareness is not the barometer, their moral rights are not the barometer, their right to protest is not the barometer. Efficacy, in this instance, is determined by achieving the goal and bringing the issue to public awareness. The issue has not been affected by Colin Kaepernick’s actions, the awareness of the issue hasn’t changed. The only thing that has changed is whether or not we side with Colin Kaepernick, not whether or not we side with Colin Kaepernick’s issue. At best inefficient, at worst derisive, overall Colin Kaepernick’s attempt at bringing an issue into the public sphere is a standing failure.
