Colin Kaepernick, Racial ‘Oppression’ . . . and Reality

Why do the half-white guys try so hard to prove their ‘blackness’?  Especially celebrities, ballplayers and others who have “made it” in the country they say “oppresses” people who look like them?

By now you’ve all heard about Colin Kaepernick’s (San Francisco 49ers quarterback) refusal to stand for the playing of the national anthem the other night.  “I’m not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said.  “There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

“Oppresses black people”?!  This man is making millions of dollars per year.  The black middle class economy, if somehow separated from the U.S., would be the 25 richest economy on earth.  How, exactly, is that “oppression”?

“There are bodies in the street…”  Yes, Colin, there are.  And every single one of those black men shot and killed by the police brought it on themselves by their actions!  This whole media-driven “protest” about blacks being shot by police needs to stop right now: Kaepernick, those NBA players who spoke out and other black celebrities and athletes need a reality check.  Would they want those punks, thugs and criminals who were killed living next door to them?  Would they want their kids playing in the neighborhoods where those cretins do drive-bys and shoot each other wantonly?  Would they want their sisters or daughters to go out with those creeps?

Of course not.  But because their skin was black, somehow they were supposed to be allowed to continue their burglaries, strong-armed robberies, car-jackings, murders, etc., with absolutely no repercussions?

What kind of madness is this?  In every case, it was the actions of the black man that got him shot, but the media, the Black Lives Matter race-baiting opportunists (“every man a Sharpton”) and others want us to believe that decent, law-abiding black people are in danger of being shot by the police every day, simply by walking or driving down the street.  That’s a bald-faced lie; what’s more, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Kaepernick, et al, know it’s not true.

There’s more pure racism in this ongoing “protest” about young black men being shot by police than in a Klan rally!  Nobody is claiming those thugs were innocent; in fact, they deliberately ignore their actions.  So what they’re saying, in effect, is that a black man should be allowed to flout the laws of this country at will, and never be held accountable for his actions.  Maybe the law-abiding black people who live in Chicago’s Southside – and in such areas in every city in America – have a different view.  Maybe they’re not so upset that another murderous thug won’t be around to steal their things, rape their daughters, shoot their sons.  But Wade, James and Kaepernick wouldn’t know that, because they don’t live in those areas.

Wade’s family just experienced the tragic murder of his cousin, a 32-year old woman who was walking to register her children for school when she was gunned down by (you guessed it) two young black men.  Where is the outrage at that?  Where is the call for action against the epidemic of young black males murdering one another?  No, that’s not quite as eye-catching as disrespecting the flag of the nation where black people are freer than any other nation on earth (including their supposed “homeland,” Africa…pick a nation).

Kaepernick was adopted and raised by white parents because his birth Mom was broke and couldn’t provide for him.  His upbringing was middle class, at least; and he has proclaimed that his religious faith is a major part of what motivates his success.  In college, where he was a very successful baseball and football player, Kaepernick said, “I think God guides me through every day and helps me take the right steps and has helped me to get to where I’m at. When I step on the field, I always say a prayer, say I am thankful to be able to wake up that morning and go out there and try to glorify the Lord with what I do on the field.”

Guess all that “glorifying the Lord” business was a youthful thing, because by keeping his seat during the national anthem he glorified only himself.

Yes, he is free to do as he pleases when it comes to the national anthem, but the thing that so many people of all races refuse to accept is that with freedom comes responsibilities.  All the people who sacrificed so much so that his family could raise him in a middle class environment, so he would have the opportunity to make millions of dollars playing a kids’ game, are honored each time that anthem is played.  He, and every American who is blessed to live in this imperfect nation, have the responsibility to show that respect to those who came before.  Here’s where I’m supposed to say “because a lot of people who died fighting under that flag were black,” but I’m not going to say that.

Because the media and race-baiters and do-gooder liberal politicians have for half a century created this racial antagonism, this separation of Americans into black and white, so that blacks are only supposed to care about things when other black people are affected, and whites are only supposed to care about things when other white people are affected.  That’s not how it’s supposed to be.  Americans have fought and died and sacrificed for two centuries so that subsequent generations of Americans, black and white, can have the opportunities like that which Kaepernick, Wade, James, et al, are enjoying.

And all they see is “oppression of people of color”?  Open your eyes, Mr. Kaepernick, those “people of color” killed by the police would cut your throat for your jewelry and wallet and car; they would ravage your girlfriend/wife and steal your belongings; they would sell drugs to your children.

But because they had black skin, you’re calling their shooting “oppression”?  Because they had black skin, you’re saying they shouldn’t have received the just consequences of their actions?   That makes you the true racist…and a damned fool.

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Formerly a liberal and an atheist, Paul E. Scates served as a Marine in Vietnam and is a lifelong student of American history, politics and culture. A former contributor to national website TooGoodReports.com, he writes his staunchly independent Conservative and informed Christian commentary for his fellow ordinary, working Americans, the “we, the people” who are ultimately responsible for preserving our Constitutional liberties.

Paul E. Scates

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