Kaepernick: Standing Up By Sitting Down and How Our Kids See Patriotism

By Jose Vilson | August 29, 2016

Kaepernick: Standing Up By Sitting Down and How Our Kids See Patriotism

By Jose Vilson | August 29, 2016
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I’m shocked that I’m defending a millionaire too, but Colin Kaepernick? You did it.

In my recent post on Medium, I explored San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s protest and what it means for our schools:

They should wonder why they’re told to wait and wait to engage in learning the depth and breadth of atrocities and victories that make our country what it is today.

They should ask themselves why so many of the people critical of a black millionaire athlete and a black President of the United States, who unironically wear Make America Great Again hats, also believe it’s unscrupulous to sit for the very America they don’t consider great anymore.Perhaps to many of its underserved and underrepresented citizens, especially the marginalized, this country’s never been great, but they do what they can. We need a new patriotism that embodies the labor and suppression that’s made the “America is great” narrative permissible.

Read more about it here.

It’s fascinating how a billion dollar non-profit like the NFL that profits from its demonstrations of patriotism would have employees and fans alike that are shocked (!) that Kaepernick would act as he does. But we also see how, despite court rulings to the contrary, children are browbeaten to do “patriotic activities.”

We gotta do better.


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