Chapter 3
The Kaepernick Movement Matters
Seeing all of the venom spewed at Colin Kaepernick takes me back to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Today, even Republicans admit that there were no weapons of mass destruction, no direct connection to 9/11, and no true reason to invade Iraq. But back in 2003, it was thought to be anti-American, even treasonous, to speak out against the Iraq invasion. I was playing for the Washington Wizards in the nation’s capital at the time and simply couldn’t keep quiet about what I saw as blatant disrespect to our troops—sending them in harm’s way because of deliberate lies perpetuated by then-president George W. Bush. I began reciting my poems at rallies and marches around Washington, DC. Sometimes thirty or forty people came. At other times, hundreds or even thousands showed up. I delivered each poem with the same tenacity, no matter the size of the crowd.
Here is an excerpt from my poem “Hoodwinked”:
A poet once posed the question
What father and son benefited the most from 9/11
Unable to overcome his grip on your mind
You helplessly became his next victim
He had the perfect strategy
His tune you would all soon sing
He pumped terror into the minds of the multitude like unleaded gasoline
He tricked y’all
Had you all shook
Scared of your own shadow
On the run from the sun thinking it was coming after you
Heightened terror alerts
From green to yellow
From yellow to orange baffled your mental stability
You actually believed he could keep you out of harm’s way
He had you nestled in the palm of his hand
A herd of blind sheep led astray
The truth never set you free from his grasp
Even after you learned of his lies
Continuously rising like the tide of an ocean
His mountains of deceit never bothered you
Why?
Y’all had to know he wasn’t keeping it real
Stealing your joy with scare tactics
He peeled away at your emotions
Fear is the final frontier of the unenlightened masses who believe everything they hear
Accepting as true all of the lies that Fox News tells you
Using their “fair and balanced” strategy to cause commotions in your rhythmic patterns
He scattered your brains
Played on your ignorance like a fiddle
Making you tap dance to his tune of fear
He was Geppetto pulling your strings
Holding you down and making your soul cry during an election year
A tragedy like Romeo and Juliet
Y’all gladly drank from his cup of poison
I attempted to get my message out to the papers, but nobody wanted to cover it. Then, at one particular antiwar rally, I performed a poem called “The Field Trip.” I named some ten Republicans I wanted to take on a field trip to see the results of their policies. Soon the story of the rally was everywhere.
The Kaepernick controversy reminds me of the hate mail delivered to me at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena). Before the rally, I would get a few letters here and there, but after it I started getting boxes. Some of the letters were supportive, but a lot of them were filled with anger and hate.
Today, I take my hat off to Colin Kaepernick for everything he is enduring, especially now in the age of social media. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry can develop what I call “Twitter courage” and type a hateful, evil condemnation of the player.
In September 2016, Kaepernick reported that he had received death threats as a result of his decision to kneel during the national anthem. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Muhammad Ali, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, John Carlos, Tommie Smith, and countless other athletes who have taken stances viewed as “unpatriotic” have received similar threats.
Isn’t it interesting that many of the same people who are currently calling Kaepernick “unpatriotic” disrespected President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for eight years?
Isn’t it also interesting that those same people who describe Kaepernick’s stance as disrespectful to veterans haven’t expressed anger toward George W. Bush, who sent those brave soldiers whose lives are precious and should be valued to die for a lie? Isn’t it interesting that these same conservatives have voted against better health care and aid to vets after they come home?
A lot of people have a confused interpretation of patriotism. If you’re not offended by the fact that one out of two veterans who have returned from Iraq or Afghanistan knows a fellow soldier who has attempted suicide; or by the half a million vets who don’t have insurance; or the thirty-nine thousand who are homeless—but you are offended by Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem—then you have greatly misplaced your patriotism.
It’s beautiful how Colin Kaepernick’s message is spreading and resonating with so many other athletes, from high school football teams to Howard University cheerleaders.
At first, only 49ers teammate Eric Reid joined Kaepernick. But then more teammates, including Antoine Bethea, Eli Harold, Jaquiski Tartt, and Rashard Robinson, joined in, raising their fists during the national anthem before a game against the Carolina Panthers.
Next, Jeremy Lane of the Seattle Seahawks sat during the national anthem. Kansas Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters raised his fist, and told reporters he supports Kaepernick’s efforts to raise awareness about our broken justice system. On Sunday Night Football, Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett and safety Devin McCourty also raised their fists for the national anthem.
Although he lost two endorsement deals, Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall also took a knee, and said he would continue to kneel.
What’s almost more impressive is how this message is affecting high school athletes, who, as we know, are greatly influenced by professional athletes. They are watching, learning, and taking stances of their own because they have their own experiences with injustice. Some have bravely faced down adversity, hatred, and threats of physical harm.
In September 2016, a Brunswick, Ohio, high school football player named Rodney Axson Jr. was threatened with lynching and called the N-word by his white teammates after he knelt to protest racism.
In Seattle, Garfield High School’s entire football team and coaching staff took a knee while the national anthem played before their Friday-night game on September 16, 2016.
They were not intimidated by a number of public figures who all used their platforms to discredit, condemn, and ridicule Colin Kaepernick and other athletes for having the moral courage to stand up for what they believe in. One would think they would be just as vocal in condemning social injustice and the countless murders at the hands of the police that have gone unpunished. More than two dozen Black people were killed during encounters with police in just the first six weeks after Kaepernick began protesting. Where is their condemnation of that?
They were silent when police murdered unarmed Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, Oklahoma; he was guilty of having car trouble and expecting the police to help him out. They had nothing to say when the Charlotte police killed Keith Lamont Scott, a mentally impaired Black man allegedly guilty of reading a book in his car. In both of these cases, the officers went out on paid administrative leave. As Colin Kaepernick said in a postgame interview, “There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.” They should be outraged at that and not at whether Colin Kaepernick and other athletes are sitting or standing during the national anthem.
As a wise saying goes, Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are just as outraged as those who are.
Here I am listening to Esaw Garner, the widow of Eric Garner, during a Black Lives Matter panel discussion in Harlem.
I applaud all of the athletes who have had the moral courage to withstand the backlash, the criticism, the outrage, the venom, and all of the hate, and have used their platform to speak out and bring awareness to an issue that has plagued our country for far too long.
Kaepernick’s teammate Eric Reid was the first one who truly stood by him. Reid listened to Kaepernick’s reasons and concerns, saw the backlash that he was getting, and said that there was no way on earth he was going to allow his teammate to take this burden alone. When I interviewed Reid, he expressed how police murders hit close to him, especially Alton Sterling’s, which happened in his hometown of Baton Rouge. Not only was Reid’s support of Kaepernick courageous, but he shared his passion as well.
Etan: What led to your decision to join Kaepernick in taking a knee during the national anthem?
Eric Reid: I had a couple of discussions with him leading up to it, and he told me how he felt, and I felt the same way regarding a lot of the issues that were happening in this country, particularly with police brutality. I just felt that people were losing their lives over traffic stops and nobody was being held accountable for that. The way that things kept playing out was, you would have the initial report, they would say it was under investigation, and nothing would really happen. All of these families would be forced to deal with another loss of life, and nothing seemed to be changing, and I was growing very frustrated with the entire justice system. So, since my personal beliefs and thoughts were in line with his on this subject, I wanted to show some solidarity and some support for my teammate. He was getting a lot of backlash and I couldn’t just not support him when I felt the same way that he did.
Etan: Initially, it seemed like you were the only one supporting him. After a while, more and more players from across the NFL began joining him in solidarity, but he was kind of out there by himself at first.
Reid: Well, the way it went down was that he wasn’t standing for about three games before anybody recognized what he was doing. It wasn’t until he dressed and put shoulder pads on to play in the game, and that’s when the media recognized it, and then I believe I joined him the week after. I think it was just a product of the time of the year. Guys were concerned with making the football team, and they didn’t want to do anything that would put themselves in a position to not make the team, and I can’t fault anybody for that. You have to do what you have to do to provide for your family. It’s a tough position to be in, to be honest, because you are at your employer’s discretion; our contracts are such that we can in fact be let go for any reason, even if it has nothing to do with our actual performance on the field. I believe that a lot of guys wanted to show support from the jump, but they also had a legitimate concern about job safety and job security.
Etan: So Kaepernick began this stance by sitting during the national anthem, and then he changed to kneeling. I was reading where you all had a meeting with Nate Boyer, who was a Bay Area native and former Green Beret and later wrote an open letter in support of you and Kaepernick. Talk about that meeting and how it helped Kaepernick shift from sitting down during the national anthem to kneeling.
Reid: So we were in San Diego, getting ready for our preseason game. Kap told me that Mr. Nate Boyer was coming and asked me to join him in that meeting, and I said of course, because our whole purpose or goal from the beginning was to keep the conversation going about the issues, in hopes that we would see some changes in the system. So we had a meeting for like two hours and we were all being very candid with each other. We were explaining how we felt as members of the Black community and he explained how he felt as a member of the military and the veteran community, and he told us that quite frankly that he and some of his friends were quite pissed when they saw Kap sitting down during the anthem and took it as an insult to their years of service, their sacrifice for us . . . But then, after he heard why we were doing it, about our frustrations with the system . . . he said he had no problem with it whatsoever. He served to protect our freedom of speech, and he commended us for speaking on a subject that needed to be discussed.
So as the conversation moved along, we got on the subject of the actual gesture of sitting down. And myself, I agreed with him that there was probably a better way to put that message across, because we knew that when you do something like this, people are going to find a way to attack you, so we can’t give them a reason . . . We came up with taking a knee as opposed to sitting down. We felt like in many ways, taking a knee is in fact respectful—people get on their knees when they pray—and we felt it would be a better way for us to . . . maybe increase the chances of them being able to hear our actual message. I prayed about it and I sought guidance from my pastor, and for me, this felt like the right thing to do . . . My faith talks about being a voice of the oppressed, and that’s all I was trying to do.
Etan: Tell me about the backlash you all received.
Reid: I didn’t pay much attention to the hate. I saw some pretty terrible things on Twitter, but I didn’t let it bother me too much, and I knew that if anyone wanted to approach me man-to-man in real life, I had no problem with having a discussion with them about this, and I did have many discussions with many people. I think that anger is a weak emotion, and if your first reaction to seeing something is anger, I believe that you lack the ability to communicate and you are very closed-minded. I think that was a lot of what was happening. People saw headlines, they saw that we weren’t standing for the anthem, or however the media chose to phrase it, and they grew angry and mad about it without actually paying attention to why we were doing it.
Etan: You have talked about how close to home the Alton Sterling murder hit for you, especially being from Baton Rouge. If you could speak with Alton Sterling’s son, what would you say?
Reid: I would say that I was moved to tears when I found out what happened and that I struggle to find words to describe how sorry I am that that happened to his father. And that it shouldn’t have happened . . . We are one of the richest countries in the world. And the people who are supposed to be protecting us are killing us. And I would let him know that there are a lot of people out there who are fighting to get that system changed because it makes no sense for people to continue to lose their lives over nothing . . . The police officer enters the situation, ultra-aggressive based solely on the appearance of the suspect. And it shouldn’t be that way. I have police officers who are my friends. I believe . . . they signed up for that job to protect and serve. It doesn’t say, Do whatever you can so you can get home safely, it says to protect and serve, and if they are not protecting and serving everyone, then they are not doing their job . . . I hope that all of these families know that there are people who are fighting for them and fighting for this system to be changed.
Etan: The lack of empathy . . .
Reid: That was probably the most mind-blowing part for me—that so many people lacked the very human emotion of empathy. How could you watch a family hurt so much and simply write it off as he should have listened to the officer, or he didn’t have the right facial expression or tone of voice, and actually use that as a justification for a man losing his life? . . . People don’t value God’s creation. God made us and gave us life. And you look at loss of life and don’t bat an eye at it. I still don’t understand how people hide behind the law. You can’t just say that this was wrong; you have to say, well, it was legal. I don’t care if it was legal or not. Slavery was legal. Segregation was legal. The Holocaust was legal. Legal has nothing to do with it being right or not. And . . . to have to reexplain it and reexplain it, and you still not get it? These families have lost members and will never be able to see them again for the rest of their lives. Alton Sterling’s son now has no father. For the rest of his entire life, he will never be able to have a relationship with his father. That should bother you as much as it bothers me.
Etan: Does it test your faith?
Reid: It does, and the thing that I always come back to is that the Lord’s wisdom is almighty and it surpasses all human understanding. And I am sure that so many things happen in the world that I simply don’t understand. Yes, I get frustrated. Yes, I get angry. Yes, I begin to lose faith. But I have to lean on my heavenly Father for strength to continue fighting. The Bible tells us that one day we all have to take that knee before God and give an account for our life, and people will be punished. I saw something the other day that said, if the punishment for sin was given immediately, people wouldn’t sin. But it’s given in the afterlife, and people will have to deal with what’s coming. So that’s what keeps me going. My faith, and Judgment Day, knowing that God will punish and reward people based on what they have done in their lives. And that’s a far worse punishment than any jury can give any of these policemen who feel they got off scot-free. But here on earth, we are going to keep fighting for what is right.
Etan: What gave you the courage to be able to take a stand like that?
Reid: The answer again is my faith. Jesus walked this earth, He was ridiculed, He was mocked, and He was killed for doing His Father’s business. And if He could give that perfect example and lose His life for doing what was right, I can handle some backlash from the media. I can handle some people hiding behind their keyboard and calling me names and telling me to leave the country because that’s not real . . . So to me, it didn’t feel like it took much courage just to take a knee for what was right, when I follow Jesus who gave His life to save mine.
Some football players took heat for not supporting Kaepernick, but many people didn’t know about the internal discussions that took place throughout the entire NFL. My friend Torrey Smith, who once sat with me on a fatherhood panel with five of his fellow Baltimore Ravens, called me shortly after Kaepernick took his knee and told me about those discussions. Smith had been a 49ers teammate of Kaepernick’s when the controversy broke out. You hear a lot of the Kaepernick critics saying that he was a “distraction” for the team and that he was “splitting the locker room” by taking such a controversial stance, but what I hear from the actual players is quite the opposite. Kaepernick’s teammates voted to give him the Len Eshmont Award, named after the navy veteran and original member of the 1949 49ers, and given to the player who best exemplifies courage and inspiration. In this interview, Smith discusses his overall appreciation for his teammate’s courage and the tangible ways it changed even what the 49ers did in the community. He also talks about the dialogue nationwide that was sparked and the effectiveness of that dialogue.
Etan: You don’t seem to mind mixing it up on social media.
Torrey Smith: I’m never afraid to debate with anyone about anything. I feel that that’s a right that we all have. Oftentimes, with athletes in particular, there is this thought that we shouldn’t speak up about certain things, and I just don’t agree with that. I think it’s important to use your voice, and that goes for any and every person.
Etan: Isn’t it interesting, though, that when people agree with you, they praise you for speaking out, but when they don’t agree with you, then you hear, “Shut up and play and just do your job”?
Smith: (Laughing) It’s the definition of hypocrisy. But that’s just how humans are in general. People are all about what you can do for them and agreeing with you and being on your side when it is convenient or when it benefits them. Probably one of the biggest problems in our society is that people can’t disagree and be at peace. There’s always conflict. And people don’t listen . . . I have always tried to listen to people who I don’t agree with. To pay attention to their points and understand their points, and then form an opinion. And even if I don’t agree with you, I can respect your opinion and your perspective, and I feel that when you are an athlete, people don’t feel that way. They feel like if they don’t agree with what you say or your perspective, then it just doesn’t matter. You’re just a dumb jock and you don’t know what you are talking about.
Etan: There has been a burst of NFL players speaking out these past few years—not just Colin Kaepernick. How do you explain this new wave of athlete activism, particularly in the NFL?
Smith: I think, and this is just my personal opinion, currently there are conversations going on in the locker room that have never been had. I don’t want to say never, but the depth of those conversations among different groups of people has been a game changer in these past few seasons. The way that police brutality has been brought to the forefront. Or racism, or Donald Trump as president, or bigotry. And you have people talking in the locker room who will view these topics with an open mind, and others who don’t. You have people who are pro-Trump and like the fact that he is not like other politicians and isn’t politically correct and doesn’t play by any rules, and we have guys who are passionately against him and everything that he stands for. Guys that have said, “No, call it what it is.” But we are having the conversations together. And we are learning from each other’s perspectives to where guys are saying, “Wow, I didn’t think about it like that.” You have people who are personally affected by these police shootings on both sides.
Etan: Talk to me about what happened after Kaepernick took his stance. Did you guys start discussing those issues more, or was it basically just about whether he stood or not?
Smith: I think it was a combination of both. You had some people who were offended and some people who understood it. None of us knew that he was going to do this . . . This was something that he did on his own and he had been doing it for a few games, but no one noticed it. And when people caught wind of it, he spoke about it, explaining his positions and reasons, and I will always commend him for doing that . . . Even myself—we had a long talk and there was a point where I was going to do it with him, and I came to the conclusion that there were other ways to battle this. But I respect his way. So I gave him my support, told him how much I respect him and that I was going to continue to fight my way, but I didn’t think it was something that I would do because my dad was in the military. And when he dies, his casket will be draped in red, white, and blue, and he will have a military funeral, and I didn’t want to do anything that would be disrespectful to him . . .
But what he did definitely pushed the conversation to the forefront, and down the line we will realize how important what he did really was.
Etan: He specifically said that this wasn’t about the military. It was like the first thing he said. It’s like that didn’t matter.
Smith: Because people only care about what’s important to them. “I think it’s offensive, so I’m not going to listen to you. In fact, I’m going to call you selfish. And that you’re against America. Even though you didn’t say that.” There are so many things history-wise that I personally wouldn’t have known if it weren’t for him doing that. From . . . talking to my dad about different things that happened in the military in terms of how African Americans were treated, or learning how at Pearl Harbor, Black soldiers were actually segregated in certain spots on that day.
Etan: You mentioned that down the road people are going to look back and appreciate this more. What do you mean by that?
Smith: I don’t want to knock anyone who has been progressively in the forefront for many, many years, fighting these battles he has articulated, but what he did was help elevate that to a level that people wanted to reach. Or bring the attention to these issues in a way that people have been trying to for decades . . . Down the line, I think we will be able to appreciate that more as individuals and as an entire society, because things will be affected from the top down because of him.
Etan: It seems like the fans in San Francisco were pretty supportive for the most part, but San Francisco is also a very progressive place and these are issues that are commonly discussed and fought and addressed on the regular out there. But there were other cities and other fans who were irate.
Smith: I think that’s exactly what happened, and what’s interesting about this and what I learned from it, there’s never a right way in their eyes to protest. You sit down on the bus in the front, people get mad; you protest and demonstrate and march, people get mad; you riot, people get mad; you take a knee or sit down during the national anthem, people get mad . . . But the way Kap did it, in terms of his actions, it got people talking.
Etan: You said that you decided not to do it necessarily Kaepernick’s way but that you were going to fight the same fight your own way . . .
Smith: One of the things me and my wife believe very strongly and what we try to exhibit is taking care of your home and your household first. Educating yourselves and your children and preparing them and then branching out to help the community and mentoring kids and giving them the resources they need . . . After-school programs, computers, new books, technology. And we also teach them the things that people don’t teach them. How to be a man, how to carry yourself. Knowing yourself, being yourself, and being comfortable in your own skin, and knowing that everyone in society is not going to always treat you the same . . . It’s important because we have to be able to talk to our youth about how they have to react and respond when they interact with the police . . . There are different biases or flat-out racism that we have to deal with. That is just reality.
Etan: Very true. What are you doing in terms of directly fighting against police brutality?
Smith: Since Kap has brought that conversation to the forefront, I have been asking myself, What would be a win? How do we win in this situation dealing with the police, because as long as the police officers carry the guns, there will always be deaths? What we have been doing lately is visiting different police academies. Every away game we have been talking to a different police chief of that city to figure out what are they doing, how they are training their officers, so that I can go back and tell other people what they are supposed to be doing. We ask them, “Why don’t you tell the things you are telling us to everyone in the public and in the community? Why is that not being communicated in terms of transparency?” There is a serious lack of trust by the community, for the most part, of the police as a whole . . . and a lot of the reason is the lack of communication and transparency . . . And honestly, certain things should be the same across the board. There needs to be some type of standard, and people need to understand or it needs to be explained to them exactly how the process works.
Etan: When you talk about what “we” have been doing, is that the team or your foundation?
Smith: No, this is the team as a whole. Our team owner has set up these meetings at these different police stations in the different cities after Kap took his stance and brought this to the forefront. The team donated a million dollars to grassroots programs who are trying to fight police brutality . . .
And let me say this: not all of the police departments had good policies, to be quite honest, but the San Jose police chief in particular was very impressive. If you could imagine what would be the ideal way that a police department should be run, he is it. And really, we have all learned a lot. It was good for me to see the good and the bad so that I can relay the information to the community and especially to the youth and say, “In this particular city, this police department has this policy, so you have to know that this is what they do.” It’s vital to have this information. For us to have these team events, and panels on a small level, I’m sure it will continue to grow as we all learn more about this. We will really be able to bring about change because we have communicated to some of the police departments our thoughts and opinions on their policies . . . We are having dialogues with them. And it really was all started by Kap taking that stance.
It’s important to note that Kaepernick isn’t the first modern-day athlete to take a stance of this nature. Like Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, whose interview appears later in this book, NBA veteran David West is another athlete whose protest actions have been largely forgotten. Many are unaware that David West has subtly been protesting the national anthem for many years, even before Kaepernick. I personally noticed him standing last in line and about three or four feet behind his teammates while the national anthem was being played before games back in 2004 when he was with the New Orleans Hornets. When I would see him, I would let him know that I respected him and the stances he was taking, and he would say the same thing to me. As the years rolled on, I would run into him at panel discussions and different events and hear him express his concerns about a wide range of issues that plague our society. He has a deep passion and articulates the specifics so well that it would leave the crowds mesmerized.
West took time out of his in-season schedule with the Golden State Warriors to talk with me about some of these particulars. They fall right in line with everything that Kaepernick has so eloquently discussed, and sometimes even go deeper.
Etan: You have been protesting the national anthem consistently for some time now. It may have gone unnoticed because it wasn’t as drastic as taking a knee like Kaepernick. Talk about your reasons for standing behind the rest of your team during the anthem.
David West: During my second year in the NBA, we had a team meeting where we were asked by the owner to put our hands over our heart while standing for the national anthem. I raised my hand and simply stated my position. I told them that I wasn’t going to do it . . . So me standing at the end of the line a step or two behind my teammates was something that I did solely because of that meeting. It had nothing to do with some publicized event . . . I wanted to recognize that there is something outside of this world that we are living in called sport or the NBA. That was always a reminder to myself. I see guys go through certain rituals before the game. Well, for me, that was something simple that I could do in that moment to reflect on how lucky I am to be doing something that I love; but at the same time recognizing that there is a greater seriousness to life outside of this little bubble called the NBA.
Etan: Did anyone attempt to talk you out of it? If so, what was your reaction and what was their reaction? Did you ever fear criticism from the media or fans?
West: I never feared criticism from the media or fans because I’ve always felt like I speak from a position of clarity. I speak from a perspective of honesty. I try to be as truthful as I possibly can in my declarations. Oftentimes when I speak out, it’s not about me. It’s not about David getting himself out in front of the camera or trying to be a lead activist. When I was outspoken about Donald Sterling and was one of the first people to call it what it was—straight-up racism—there was no other way to palatably express what he said in what he was trying to convey in that message. It was straight slave-plantation ideology and I wasn’t ashamed nor afraid to say that . . . There is this logic that we will somehow lose out or we will be looked at as less-than if we speak about what is happening in society. I think that’s false.
What I’ve found is that the fans appreciate intelligence. They appreciate the social engagement. It actually makes them feel better that the people they are supporting give a damn about what’s going on in the world. I’ve actually had a greater response from people who appreciate athletes saying positive things because they know the type of weight our words carry with young people. Teachers are some of the biggest supporters. I’ve heard them say, “Thank God you said what you said,” “I appreciate your words,” etc. That’s a constant I hear, because they appreciate us showing a different dimension . . . Now there is hope that you don’t have to be one-dimensional. You don’t solely have to be a dumb jock. You can read books, you can be socially and politically engaged . . . In order to present the greatest version of yourself, you must have different dimensions to who you are. Your professional experience, your personal experience, your societal experience, and your ability to critically think and express your thoughts through language help convey your message . . .
When it all comes down to it, you cannot be afraid to speak your truth, particularly when it comes to historical context. You cannot be afraid to tell history as it actually occurred, not what we want to feel about it, and not what we want to extrapolate from it or revise it . . . That in total is why I speak and why I don’t have a fear of being criticized.
Etan: Here’s a quote from a powerful interview you did with the Undefeated: “I can’t start talking about civility and being a citizen if [you] don’t even think I’m a human being. How can you talk about progress and how humans interrelate with one another when you don’t even recognize our humanity? We got to somehow get that straight first so we’re on the same playing field.” Those are powerful words. Can you talk about this in more detail?
West: I believe historical context is the most important context in this nation as it pertains to African Americans, African people in America, Black people, colored people, Negroes, people of color, or whatever other name or term that you want to endear to us. The root of all of these issues isn’t just slavery. A lot of times people on both sides say we use the slavery card . . . When we are talking about police brutality, for-profit prisons, prisoner slavery, the death penalty, death row, undereducation, miseducation, mass incarceration, all of the different civic and social issues that we deal with as a group, in this country in particular and in most places around the world, you’re going to find us at the bottom . . .
All of the socioeconomic indicators indicate that our group is lacking the most in this country. And those same socioeconomic indicators can be cut, copied, and pasted, and put on Black people in just about every other part of the world. We already know the degree to which Africa itself has been looted, destroyed, and robbed for hundreds of years continuously . . . The constant rape of the resources and the consistent torture and torment of the citizens of Africa mainly rest on this idea that we are not a part of the human family.
All of these ideologies have a contextual place in history where we know these ideologies grew from . . . To treat these people to the degree that they were treated, you must make them something other than what you are. So if you classify yourself and create sciences that put yourself in the elite status in terms of humanity, where does that leave those who you exclude from that class? That leaves them equal to or lesser than animals. Therefore, you can justify the treatment of those “things” or those “others” and do with them as you please. From this particular beginning, this is where you have the system that is currently in place now.
So you want to know how Tamir Rice gets killed in less than two seconds? It’s because hundreds and hundreds of years ago, people began propagating these ideas that we were something other than human beings. That somehow we were not deserving or given the rights of humanity under God . . . The biggest fight we have is to restore ourselves as human beings on the field of humanity. And when you see what happened in Ferguson with Mike Brown and you listen to the language that Darren Wilson used to describe Mike Brown, that was a dehumanizing narrative. His size . . . his superhuman strength. This is Racism 101. This is Archaic Racism 101 being used in 2015. That’s what we are dealing with . . .
If you want to address and get to the root cause of some of the social ills like mass incarceration and the crime that we face in our communities, start with education. Though we know that Black-on-Black crime is no different than white-on-white crime, nor any other kind of crime, because people that live in close proximity of one another tend to commit crimes against each other. What is shown and displayed via images speaks to a negative narrative that reinforces old stereotypes and generalizations. Other people have been trained and taught against us. They have been miseducated about where we sit and fit on the map of human existence.
Etan: What role has education had in your development and consciousness and awareness?
West: When I was younger, I struggled in school. Education wasn’t something that I really knew the importance of . . . As I got older, I realized the importance of staying in school and learning a method. I think that’s what I learned in college—figuring out ways to research and develop intellectually. I also figured out the best way to manage my own thoughts, articulate my own ideas and my own sentiments in the best way possible.
Developing a consciousness is a key portion to your education. Your consciousness and your cultural awareness are of the utmost importance because it is in that cultural awareness that you are able to maximize the most of yourself . . . I think that’s important particularly as we move forward and face the task of continuing to tear down these oppressive ideas and systemic roadblocks created specifically against our best interests.
Etan: Talk to me about the importance of your community work, and the level of influence you have as an athlete.
West: I was once in a bookstore in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I met an elder there. He began to tell a story about Malcolm X. He said oftentimes when people would meet Malcolm they would be overwhelmed and overcome with emotion. They would ask him, “What can I do?” and “How can I help?” Malcolm would always calm them down with his response. He would simply tell them, “Do your best work.” Whatever it was that you felt like you could positively contribute to the struggle of Black people in this country for fair treatment and justice under the law, do that . . .
That always stayed with me. As I got older, it has never been about what people see. A lot of people don’t know this, but I’ve volunteered and coached AAU basketball every year since I’ve been in the NBA. I give up a big portion of my off-season/summer to literally travel with and coach kids for free in the gym as a part of my service to them . . . We feed and have fed countless numbers of folks. I visit and have spoken in juvenile centers all over the country. I’m constantly engaging young people through various initiatives . . . What I do, I feel is what I best can do.
Etan: What do you say to the people who say that athletes should stay in their lane and just shut up and play?
West: I think that’s kind of a dead issue. There is an obligation to speak if you are informed. There is an obligation to be informed as a taxpayer. For me, that has always made sense. If you are paying taxes at the highest rate in the land, you need to know about what’s going on. And if it just so happens that you want to make a comment or two about what’s going on, you have the right to do so.
You commonly can turn on the TV or radio and hear someone stating an opinion of what they are: as a father, as a husband, as a wife, as a mother, as a taxpayer, as a citizen, as a veteran, as a licensed driver, or whatever it is. They use those classifications to qualify their statements that they make about what’s going on in society, but somehow athletes are exempt from that group. I don’t think that standard should exist. If you’re someone who is informed and has an opinion, you have the right to speak out. You’re a citizen of the country. You’re a taxpayer.
Shannon Sharpe is a former NFL tight end who played for the Denver Broncos and the Baltimore Ravens. He now cohosts Undisputed with Skip Bayless. Sharpe has been right to call the NFL on its hypocrisy and apparent blackballing of Colin Kaepernick. When Kaepernick’s character is questioned and when he was accused of being a distraction for his team, Sharpe used his platform to point out players who have been convicted for domestic violence, drugs, DUIs, and so on, yet still get tryouts and are signed to teams—while Kaepernick remains unsigned. Sharpe also highlighted the blatant fabrications about Kaepernick, such as that he turned down this or that job offer, or that he refused to be a backup quarterback. With every rumor, Sharpe has been right there to separate fact from fiction.
Etan: So Kaepernick takes a knee. I want you to help us unravel why someone who is Black, who is Native American, who is pretty much anything but white, would feel a little differently about the flag.
Shannon Sharpe: I don’t think that the issue was that white America couldn’t understand; I think their issue was more of, “How could someone make millions of dollars and have the audacity to complain?” Their point of view was simply, “If you are making money, just make your money, be grateful, and be quiet.” Colin Kaepernick said, “Yes, I’m making money, and a lot of money, but what I see going on is unacceptable.” They made it about everything other than what he specifically said it was about. He specifically said it wasn’t meant to disrespect the flag, or the military, or the veterans. He specifically said it was about the police brutality, the racial and social inequities, the political process. He listed his reasons.
Etan: It was almost as if he was invading their sacred football time. “Just shut up and play.”
Sharpe: Of course, I get that myself. If I mention anything outside of the athletics lane, I hear, “Stick to sports.” Mainstream America can look back at historic figures like Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, and John Carlos and Tommie Smith, and respect them for taking a stance that was very unpopular at the time, but despise a current athlete for taking a stance they disagree with. They will say, “Well, that was a different time, they didn’t have civil rights, they were fighting segregation, for voting rights. But now, everything is so good for you, why are you complaining?” So they don’t value when a Colin Kaepernick invokes the courage of a John Carlos and a Tommie Smith to make a gesture that will be cemented in time.
Etan: Do you think it’s difficult for mainstream America to understand and recognize that there actually is a problem?
Sharpe: They say the blindest man is not the man who can’t see, but the man who chooses not to see. When something happens to an African American, and it is caught on tape, what is the excuse that is immediately given? “You don’t know what happened leading up to that, and you don’t know what happened after that.” But let them show a Black person—not even shooting, but swinging on a policeman—there will be no, “Let’s wait and see what the facts say or the investigation brings out.” They would say the video speaks for itself.
But the video never speaks for itself when it involves an African American being brutally attacked by the police, repeatedly shot by the police, beaten, kicked, punched, tased, tortured, in ways that the public would lose their mind if they turned on the TV and saw a dog being treated that way . . . And then you see tapes of whites not obeying, not complying, sometimes even having a gun, sometimes after shooting people, but they don’t lose their lives. They’re taken into custody peacefully. You go out of your way to deescalate the situation. During the Kaepernick uproar, I spoke about the Florida State student who had killed two people, stabbed a Good Samaritan who had tried to intervene, was literally gnawing their face. A female police officer tased him . . . and they took him alive.
We saw Walter Scott, who was wanted on child support violation. He didn’t kill anybody, didn’t rob a store at gunpoint. He was running away, fleeing. He posed no threat to the officer, had no weapon, and the officer shot him in the back, and he hung the jury. So yes, as Kaepernick said, we definitely do have a problem that needs to be addressed and I am glad he used his platform to address it.
Etan: I didn’t hear any of the critics address any of this. All they said was that he disrespected the flag, the military.
Sharpe: Let’s talk about history for a moment. A history that apparently a lot of people have chosen not to remember. There were so many Blacks who fought for that flag overseas, but when they come home, they were second-class citizens . . . Frederick Douglass said it best: what does the Fourth of July mean to a slave? I would encourage everyone to read that speech or listen to it, because it is powerful. What does the slave get to celebrate? What freedoms did the Blacks who were fighting for that flag really have? I want rights too.
Etan: I just don’t get why this is difficult for some people to understand.
Sharpe: No, people choose not to understand; they understand perfectly . . . I’m going to share a story, and I have never shared this with anyone else. I was probably ten or eleven, and this white kid told me that I had a hole in my jeans, which I did, and I told him, “You got a hole in your shirt and your jeans and you are dirty.” You know what he told me? He said, “I may have a hole in my shirt, and my jeans, and I may be dirty, but at least I’m not Black.” The worst thing was being Black. President LBJ said this—if you can convince the lowest white man that he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice that you’re picking his pocket. Hell, if you give him someone to look down upon, he’ll empty his pockets for you. I used to think that we were heading in the right direction; I definitely never said “postracial America,” but I thought we at least were inching toward the right direction. But social media has allowed you to get a glimpse into someone’s living room from thousands of miles away . . .
Now people have no problem tweeting or posting their racism. There used to be a time where people would hide behind their white sheets with their racism . . .
Etan: Isn’t it interesting that the very thing the veterans fought and died for is the right to be able to sit or stand for the flag?
Sharpe: It used to be stressed that we utilize peaceful protest, but now they don’t even want us to do that. Protest is supposed to make people uncomfortable, because if it doesn’t take you out of your comfort zone, you won’t be able to hear what I’m trying to get you to hear . . . They want to tell you how to protest in the way that is going to make them the least uncomfortable and generate the least amount of attention, which is exactly the opposite of what a protest is supposed to do.
Etan: So what would your advice be to athletes who want to use their position as a platform like Kaepernick?
Sharpe: A lot of times, you are going to have to stand alone in the beginning. But do not become frustrated, and do not become deterred. Realize that you are standing for something that is greater than you. There is a chance that you won’t be around to receive the benefits from it, but know that your work doesn’t go unnoticed . . . You know the rules. History will be the judge of Colin Kaepernick, not what the critics say now. And thirty, forty, fifty years down the road, he will be talked bout the same way we talk about Ali, Russell, Kareem, and all the rest of the historic Black athletes. Mark my word.