March 23, 2017, I wrote a column stating Colin Kaepernick will be blackballed from the NFL. As the NFL Hall of Fame game is scheduled for August 3, 2017 in Canton, Ohio Kaepernick remains unsigned.
It was reported yesterday the Baltimore Ravens were interested in signing Kaepernick due to a back injury starting quarterback Joe Flacco sustained in camp. The fictitious interest quickly diminished as the team opted to sign a quarterback few have even heard of, David Olson.
The NFL expects Kaepernick to adopt a slave mentality and beg for a job when, based upon his career, he should not have to. Kaepernick obviously is not of a slave mentality yet the NFL represents remnants of the heinous institution based upon how he is being treated by the NFL.
Every franchise is owned by whites. Never in the history of professional football dating back to 1920 has an African-American ever had predominate ownership of an NFL franchise. To date 68 percent of the leagues players are African-American. In short, a majority of the workforce in the league are black.
During American slavery, the workers were primarily of African descent where the plantations were owned by white males. Those whom looked like Kaepernick were laboring without any rights, respect or compensation.
During the rise of American slavery, and still yet today, black lives don’t matter.
The master dictated everything on the plantation. Each plantation had an overseer to ensure things ran smoothly. The NFL overseer for the owners is Commissioner Roger Goodell. He’s been put in place to indiscriminately discipline the owner’s assets when necessary.
Today, despite being highly paid, African-American athletes are still treated like slaves. Some will argue, how can one be characterized as a slave when the athletes earn millions of dollars playing a sport. Well, it’s not about the money. It’s really about the freedom to move about absent of obstacle. It’s about the ability to openly speak one’s mind without repercussions and having the ability to control your own destiny.
In the words of Curt Flood, “A well paid slave is nonetheless a slave.”
When Kaepernick eloquently explained his stance the lily-white media quickly attempted to curtail Kaepernick’s message by changing his narrative. The white establishment amended his message to suggest he was against the flag and the military to keep from addressing the issues in the African-American community Kaepernick highlighted.
When Kaepernick began taking a knee in protesting the atrocities African-Americans have endured at the hands of law enforcement he was characterized as a defiant field slave who disobeyed his master because he dared to bring attention to police brutality.
The NFL and its white owners are sending a clear message to African-Americans in society and American sport. The message is, if you don’t play by the rules you will get Kaepernicked.
I knew the handwriting was on the wall when New York Giants co-owner John Mara stated the following:
“All my years being in the league, I never received more emotional mail from people than I did about that issue," Mara told The MMQB (Monday Morning Quarterback). "If any of your players ever do that, we are never coming to another Giants game. It wasn't one or two letters. It was a lot. It's an emotional, emotional issue for a lot of people, more so than any other issue I've run into."
Mara’s statement reflected how most of his slave-owning brethren feel about Kaepernick’s stance. This is the same team who, during last season, backed its former kicker Josh Brown by signing him to a new deal after the team was fully aware Brown was abusing his wife. Battering your wife is okay with the NFL so long as you don’t take a stance against African-Americans being killed by law enforcement.
In 2009 the Atlanta Falcons formally cut ties with Michael Vick. Vick did an 18-month bid in prison for torturing dogs and funding a gambling ring. Upon his release, he was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles. Vick recently had the audacity to suggest Kaepernick should cut his hair and clean up his image.
In 2013 when former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper was hurling the N-Word around like it was going out of style, Vick publicly backed his white teammate.
Why didn’t Vick ask Cooper to cut his long flowing hair yet suggest Kaepernick cut his afro?
Most interesting is the following; how can Vick go to prison for nearly two-years for torturing dogs yet the vast majority of the police officers who kill African-Americans still walk free?
You guessed it.
Because black lives don’t matter.
In March of 2009 former NFL wide receiver Donte Stallworth killed a man. While a member of the Cleveland Browns, Stallworth was driving drunk in the wee hours of the morning in Miami Beach when he struck and killed a pedestrian. Invariably Stallworth was charged with a DUI and served 30-days in jail. Stallworth went on to play three more seasons in the NFL despite killing a man.
The NFL is okay with giving a second chance to someone who killed a man, someone who hurled the N-word, someone who battered his wife and someone who tortured dogs, yet dubiously snub a man for taking a knee in silent protest.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was accused of rape and sexual assault on several occasions but never charged. The most notable incident took place in March of 2010 when Roethlisberger was accused of raping an underage woman at a bar in Milledgeville, Georgia. The media gave Roethlisberger a pass in not covering the fiasco with the same level of persistence stemming from his white complexion and the position he plays in the NFL.
Despite being found not guilty, many think O.J. Simpson committed a double-murder in 1994. Despite not being charged with rape I believe Roethlisberger is guilty of what he was accused of in 2010.
The NFL has endorsed the athletes mentioned to get second chances for committing actual crimes and/or being accused of them yet Kaepernick, who has not committed a crime, cannot get a job.
Based upon the historical development of this country, the NFL’s collective stance regarding Kaepernick, and the plethora of players who have received second chances for criminal and willful acts, a reasonable person can draw one logical conclusion.
Black lives don’t matter.
Email Dexter at: drttcd@gmail.com and/or follow him on Twitter @DextersVPoint