NFL: The Protest Turned Into a Big Business
In August 2016 Colin Kaepernick sat on a bench during the national anthem. Then he knelt. He did not shout he did not burn flags he did not block streets. He simply took a knee to the ground while The Star Spangled Banner played before San Francisco 49ers games. His message I will not show pride for a flag that oppresses people of color. Kaepernick was not protesting the national anthem nor the United States nor his employers or the NFL. His protest was against police brutality injustice and a system he believed was killing people of color. Years of watching videos of men of color dying at the hands of police had convinced him something had to be done. Eric Garner Michael Brown Tamir Rice Philando Castile. The names and bodies kept piling up. Every Sunday of the season Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem. Each week another teammate joined him. Other players of color. More and more until the action became impossible to ignore. Up to two hundred players protested in a singl...
