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How Will History Remember Colin Kaepernick?

How Will History Remember Colin Kaepernick?

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It has been 257 days since former San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick has had a job. Kaepernick, who led the 49ers to the Super Bowl during the 2012-2013 season, is now more recognized for his controversial national anthem demonstrations than his performance on the field, as he has sparked a movement throughout the NFL. In a preseason postgame interview on August 26th, 2016 with Kaepernick, NFL.com’s Steve Wyche reported that the 49er quarterback started his protest due to the oppression of black people. Kaepernick said, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” as he continued to single out police brutality specifically, “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.” This was the first game where Kaepernick gained attention for sitting out during the National Anthem. Teammate Eric Reid joined him thereafter starting on September 1st, where they both took a knee.

“To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

This movement has led to demonstrations across the NFL, and arguably across all sports and sports media, with increasingly more players, coaches, teams, and commentators coming out in support of Kaepernick’s protest. Yet, not all were in support of Kaepernick as many political commentators quickly took it upon themselves to critique the quarterback’s actions. One of the most notable critiques comes from former host on “Tomi” hosted by, Tomi Lahren – a show that gained popularity as Lahren ended each and every show with a three-minute segment called “Final Thoughts” in which she offered just that. One of the segments that went viral, with 66 million views and counting, pertained directly to Colin Kaepernick’s protest. Lahren started off the segment sarcastically calling Kaepernick, “buddy,” but makes sure to affirm that she respects Kaepernick’s first amendment rights. She then preemptively sets up her diatribe as something that is going to “shred” Kaepernick, calling him a “whiny, indulgent, attention-seeking, crybaby.” Lahren goes on to call Kaepernick a bad influence to black children, as he is teaching them that their “biggest contribution to justice and self-fulfillment is to parade around with a chip on their shoulder like a victim.” Lahren doesn’t stop there, as she seems to credit white people for the position he is in, trying to deter Kaepernick’s argument for his protest as a war against white people, as Lahren appallingly asks Kaepernick, “How dare you sit there, and blame white people for the problems in minority communities?”

Lahren was far from the only one critical of Kaepernick and his movement. Just months ago President Donald Trump criticized the NFL for being too lenient on their National Anthem protocol, initially during a rally in Alabama – where he called NFL players who don’t stand for the anthem, “sons of bitches” – and then again on Twitter. Specifically, Trump was criticizing the National Football League’s lack of discipline towards its players who were kneeling during the Star-Spangled Banner calling for supporters of his message to stop going to games as well as calling NFL executives to change the policy on standing for the national anthem.

The media subsequently jumped all over the feud between the NFL, its teams, coaches, and players – and the President. This isn’t the first time sport and politics have collided on the national stage, however, as one of the most iconic acts of sport activism took place 49 years ago.

1968 was a year of tragedy, exploration, war, and protest. The Mexico City Olympic Games offers one of the most iconic images of the year and of modern American history, as John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised the iconic “Black Power salute” during the national anthem on the medal stand after their 200m final. What was originally going to be a complete boycott by the United States Men’s Track Team – planned by the founder of the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) and San Jose State College professor, Harry Edwards – was then heavily criticized not just by the media at the time but also by International Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage. Brundage was a key player in getting the Olympic games to Germany during Hitler’s reign in 1936, as critics deemed him a Nazi sympathizer and anti-Semitic in light of new evidence that Brundage was bribed into supporting the 1936 Berlin Games. Brundage deemed Edwards’ movement to boycott the games as a movement that doesn’t “understand the Olympic philosophy of no discrimination because of race, religion, or political affiliations.” Around the same time of this proposed boycott was the growing popularity of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King – someone who supported the OPHR and the message they were trying to send on not only a national stage, but also an international stage. Since the boycott fell through because of failure to get enough athletes on board, the U.S. Men’s Track team and specifically Tommie Smith and John Carlos took it upon themselves to spark a flame across the world with their infamous black power salute. Looking back at this event, it is now known as one of the most widely recognized symbols of civil rights progress in American history. Although Smith and Carlos were heavily criticized at the time, many regardless of race, class, or political affiliation now respect their act of peaceful protest.

The Fannie Lou Hamer Professor of Rhetorical Studies at Florida State University’s School of Communication, Dr. Davis Houck took some time to talk to me about the similarities between the events we see across the NFL sparked by Colin Kaepernick, and the demonstration put on by the two track stars in Mexico City. Houck touched on several similarities and differences between the athletes’ demonstrations, such as executive reactions, the role of the media, the use of the National Anthem as a stage, and a possible future for Colin Kaepernick.

Executive Reactions:

When comparing the 1968 Olympics to the NFL protests seen today Houck sees the executives of each organization as doing their best to “quarantine the protests.” Houck says that both Avery Brundage and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell are both “trying to put a lid on the protests for similar reasons: it’s bad for our brand.” With the sports world being so connected these days, especially with Trump’s barrage of tweets attacking not only the NFL, but also Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, it would be easy to see these demonstrations leak over into other sports.

Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team.Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2017

Houck touches on the potential problem that the political leakage these demonstrations may have on other sports, “If these protests metastasize to other sports, then we’ve got a big problem that’s not going away.” He also mentions the problem that executives would face because of this: “So yes, the leadership of the NFL desperately wants players to quit protesting the flag/anthem but this isn’t about flag/anthem protests, but about racial equality and racial justice.” Just like Brundage in 1968, Goodell and the NFL owners have a massive public relations problem on their hands – one that is definitely not slowing down if the President keeps mashing that Tweet button.

The Media’s Role:

When asked about the similarities and differences in the way that the media covered both the demonstration during the 1968 Olympics and the ongoing controversies in the NFL, Houck immediately brought up the power of social media. Social media “allows the protests to get new oxygen based on a dynamic media environment.” With the way today’s culture consumes news – on this 24-hour media diet that cycles to new topics every day – Houck emphasizes the power social media has, allowing players to “drive so much more of the media traffic and really catalyze public opinion.” But social media gives a voice to all people, not just players.

On November 13th, 2017 Kaepernick was named GQ’s “Citizen Of The Year,” as his continued fight with racial inequality was featured in an article titled, “Colin Kaepernick Will Not Be Silenced.” The main focus of the article was to “Celebrate the man who became a movement,” comparing him to the likes of Muhammad Ali and Jackie Robinson. This article started to consume Kaepernick’s Twitter feed as retweet after retweet started to roll in on his home page, but the retaliation was expeditious. Former ESPN reporter Britt McHenry blasted GQ for honoring Kaepernick, tweeting that the honor was a “joke,” comparing Kaepernick to other NFL players, highlighting JJ Watt.

Although shedding Watt in a good light, McHenry fails to mention Kaepernick’s passion for underappreciated youth in African American communities, as he not only gave pledged $1 million to a variety of charities he has taken the biggest pay cut of all, sacrificing his NFL career to support a movement that he believes in.

Houck talked also about the difference between the media today and the media during the racially tense times of the 1960s, citing the “black press” as a large part of the media that “gave some oxygen to Smith and Carlos,” along with some in the “white press,” as well. Interestingly enough, Colin Kaepernick doesn’t take to Twitter and tweet directly but his use of the retweet function is fascinating, as it seems to emulate the 1960s “black press.” Throughout Kaepernick’s feed, it becomes apparent that there is a large following behind the movement that he has cultivated. Kaepernick retweeted popular figures in the modern black activism movement such as Joy Reid, Shaun King, and Tariq Nasheed, who all poured their support out about GQ’s decision to make Kaepernick “Citizen Of The Year.” Through social media, Kaepernick supporters and critics have an equal voice, something that wasn’t available to black athletes, and citizens in the 1960s.

Why the National Anthem?

One of the biggest complaints that have been expressed about Kaepernick’s movement is the stage on which he is doing it – the National Anthem. Time and time again critics have denounced NFL players for disrespecting the flag and the military because they are kneeling, but there has to be a reason Kaepernick chose this stage, right? Houck says attention is just that reason, “Rhetorically speaking, kneeling during the anthem is very smart: look at all the attention it generates.” Houck then goes onto explain the intelligence behind the demonstrations, citing the National Anthem as a nationalistic tradition: “If we’re going to do nationalism at the start of a contest, then what better way to call attention to your national cause than to silently protest it?” Although Kaepernick started off the demonstrations by sitting for the national anthem, a conversation with Army Special Forces veteran Nate Boyer got him to switch to kneeling, as a way to emulate a soldier kneeling for a “fallen brother.” Houck also finds kneeling as a rhetorical tactic that is “powerful, because it riffs prayer,” gesturing “to deference.” When comparing the two demonstrations of Kaepernick’s and Carlos and Smith’s 1968 Olympic protest, Houck sees the raised armed fist of the Black Power salute as, “defiant” compared to what Houck sees Kaepernick doing in regards to riffing religion, as Houck mentions, “to kneel in prayer is to be supplicant.” As the National Anthem is played before every sporting event, it would make sense that Kaepernick use it to as a way to spark a movement and inevitably a backlash.

“Rhetorically speaking, kneeling during the anthem is very smart: look at all the attention it generates. If we’re going to do nationalism at the start of a contest, then what better way to call attention to your national cause than to silently protest it?”

Kap’s Legacy:

With activist athletes from the 1960s remembered as civil-rights heroes – Tommie Smith, John Carlos, and Muhammad Ali – it seems Kaepernick’s legacy will go down the same path. When Houck addressed the immediate future of Kaepernick’s he didn’t see him returning to the NFL, “I don’t think he’ll get a job in the NFL [but] he’s going to be very in demand in multiple forums. I will not be surprised at all if one day he trades in his shoulder pads for the lecture podium or the University corner office.” As far as long-term legacy, Houck doesn’t see Kaepernick being an exact reflection of the athlete activists from the 1960s, but he does see him as something possibly larger, “I don’t think Kaepernick’s protest will be remembered in the same way, but I do think his protest will one day be seen as part of a larger movement for social equality and racial justice specifically.” Houck blames the difference between what Kaepernick’s legacy could be and what Carlos and Smith’s is today on social media, “Our attention spans in the age of social media are wired completely differently. Whereas Smith and Carlos had the whole world watching, and nothing much else to compete with, we have stuff flying at us 24/7 so it’s hard to sustain Kaepernick’s critique.” As social media consumes the American public more and more every day, individual legacies are bound to be forgotten, but movements will surely be written down in history books.

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