I Sit with Kaepernick

I sit with Colin Kaepernick.

I've been sitting with him since my junior year of high school. I gave up standing for the national anthem and swine simultaneously (that's what black folks that don't eat the other white meat call pork).

I made a personal decision. There was no announcement or public declaration. Honestly, it's something you'd only know if you attend sporting events with me, REALLY know me, or my political beliefs. For some, this might be your first time hearing it. And if you're shocked, you shouldn't be.

I was the kid who attended schools that required students to put their right hand over your heart and say the pledge of allegiance. It was how each school day started. Stand outside, line up with your classmates, watch the flag being raised, recite the pledge, and head to class. That was the routine. It was the school version of washing my face and brushing my teeth every morning.

In high school, I went through a period of self-discovery, exploration, and realized historically things weren't as simple as 2+2=4. Textbooks and college-prep lectures weren't cutting it. I stopped relying solely on what I was being taught. Public Enemy, N.W.A. (particularly Ice Cube), X Clan, Eyes on The Prize, and Malcolm X all played a part and shaped my core. Say what you want about hip-hop, the golden era raised the consciousness of many people my age.

We'd hear something in a rhyme that peaked our curiosity, we'd end up going to the library, pickin' up an Encyclopedia Britannica, or if you were bold, you'd ask a family member.

That was our Google, our Internet.

Every critical thinking skill I'd honed, every relative who taught me to question, not to accept things "just because" had come into play. My life embodied a line from my favorite childhood cartoon, Schoolhouse Rock, "knowledge is power." The more books I read, documentaries I watched, I knew I could no longer salute, pledge, or sing an anthem for a flag that was a symbol of oppression for Black people, native people, and all people of color. Ignorance is bliss and I'm far from dumb.

Some may find that unpatriotic, but nobody expects Jewish people to sing "The Horst Wessel Song" or salute the Nazi flag. Germany even banned all Nazi symbols and imagery unless they're in exhibits for educational purposes about what occurred during WWII. You might think that comparison is a stretch, but it's not.

I don't have enough hours in my day to be your History professor, but I'll give you an index card syllabus. Read (not the sanitized versions) of what happened in the Middle Passage, the horrific truths of every facet of slavery (not what's been made digestible in movies), what Columbus did to the indigenous (there's a reason why "the only Christopher I acknowledge is Wallace"), what really happened on Thanksgiving (check out the Trail of Tears), and the Scottsboro Boys (the 1930's version of the Central Park Five).

You need more?

Look up Emmett Till, Japanese-Americans' placement in concentration camps, why Billie Holiday sang "Strangefruit", and let's not forget the mental and physical violence that Black people have endured since we've been here...since we built these here United States.

We've fought, served in every war in which the U.S. has participated, but are still treated like second-class citizens. Black blood is good enough to die for red, white, and blue but not good enough to have equal rights.

And please don't counter with the "post-racial" "I Have a Dream/We Shall Overcome" arguments because it's a facade. Yes, things have improved and gains have been made, but Black people still catchin' hell, fire, and brimstone.

Racism and white supremacy are soaked in the soil of this country and my ancestors' blood is the fertilizer. For these reasons, I can't stand with pride to salute a flag or sing a song that's lyrics are rooted in my oppression. Kaepernick summarized it in sentences.

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color." To me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

If you have a problem with that statement, it might be time for you to stop looking at the reflection of just your own world in the mirror. It's time to face, better yet acknowledge, the harsh realities that affect Black people and people of color every day.

If you've done any of the following, it's time you stop standing and living in your mirror's blind spot...

If you tell Black people (or any person of color) that racism doesn't exist, question their personal experiences, attempt to invalidate them, tell 'em they're exaggerating, you're livin' in the blind spot.

If you don't see the connection between some NFL owners donating to Trump's campaign and Colin not having a job, you're livin' in the blind spot.

If you are more outraged by Kaepernick's protest than the reason why he's protesting, you're livin' in the blind spot.

If you think not standing for the anthem is disrespectful to the military, but are silent on the VA's mistreatment, negligence, and abuse of the veterans, you're livin' in the blind spot.

If you praise Muhammad Ali, rock his t-shirts and worship Dr. King at the altar of racial unity, but abhor Colin's non-violent stance, you're livin' in the blind spot.

If your response to unarmed Black men and women being killed by the police is: "They should just comply and they wouldn't be killed," you're livin' in the blind spot.

If you were silent about Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Mike Brown, Sandra Bland, Walter Scott, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Terence Crutcher, and all the countless others, you're livin' in the blind spot.

If you think it's just a random coincidence that all the individuals that I just named were Black, unarmed, murdered, and victim-shamed, you're livin' in the blind spot.

If you think the school-to-prison pipeline is make-believe, you're livin' in the blind spot.

If you think that the gentrification that is happening in "every person-of-color community U.S.A." is great because the property values are rising and Whole Foods coming to town is the grocery store equivalent of Jesus turning water into wine, you're livin' in the blind spot.

If you appropriate our culture, revel in our sway, our style, and benefit in all ways from our magic, but rationalize that institutional racism does not exist despite all the facts, "receipts", and statistics (cuz you know numbers don't lie') and are in positions to change it but don't, you're livin' in the blind the spot.

If you think racial profiling is just our imagination (in my Eddie Kendricks voice), you're livin' in the blind spot.

If you don't think the gerrymandering and voter suppression that is happening across the South is not Bull Connor reincarnated, you're livin' in the blind spot.

If you didn't give a rat's ass about the crack epidemic, but are in full support of opioid addiction being treated as a public health crisis, you're livin' in the blind spot.

If your response to "Black Lives Matter" is "All Lives Matter," "Blue Lives Matter," or counter with "What about Black on Black crime?," you're livin' in the blind spot.

If you have more apathy for animals than the lives of all human beings, you're livin' in the blind spot.

If you're a person of color who's successful based on societal terms --- you know, the high paying gig, the "go get the money" business, the "I'm rich b@#ch" (in my Dave Chapelle voice) ride, the beautiful home, the prep school kids, and got "racks on racks on racks" ---- and think you're colorless, your livin' in the blind spot.

Newsflash: Your money, that multi-degreed education will not save you!

I repeat, IT...WILL NOT...SAVE...YOU!

If you've only started to protest, become outraged, use your voice, and call out your racist family, friends, and co-workers because this hateful rhetoric now affects you, you're livin' in the blind spot.

If you consciously and subconsciously act like you don't know the dog whistle intention behind "Make America Great Again", you're livin' in the blind spot.

If you voted for the "Candy Corn Kremlin" despite knowing he's a racist, misogynist, xenophobe, homophobe, a liar, morally and ethically bankrupt, a white supremacist (if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, doesn't denounce any ducks, and appoints ducks to its staff, it's a duck), also the public face of birtherism, has incestual, child molester tendencies, a bully, incites violence, and is a self-proclaimed, proud chest poked out sexual assaulter, you're livin' in the blind spot.

For those who support him, you made a conscious choice to touch the hot stove after everyone told you it was hot. "You didn't think fat meat greasy." And instead of it being the customary, "that other dude's house is on fire, not my issue, not my concern," now it's your own home. You runnin' 'round here wantin' folks to put out the ragin' inferno from the hate that hate produced.

The events of the last eight months --- Russia + Russia + more Russia, Charlottesville, the pardoning of Joe Arpaio, and the erasure and attempts to erase all evidence of Obama's legacy and legislation --- provide all the elements for the easiest game of Connect the Dots. It's why I don't do what the majority of you do. I know the disguise is patriotism, but the everyday outerwear is racism.

So until the day comes that all of this changes, I'm going to sit down when that flag is raised, that song is sung, sip my tea, and watch the chickens come home to roost.

Malcolm truly said it best...

(Photo by ​Robert Hanashiro/USA Today via Reuters)