Nick Canepa: 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick exercising his rights
He can sit in the front of the bus now. But he’s taking the ride he wanted.
He got himself listened to. For this moment in time.
And so, while there wasn’t much worth watching on the field Thursday night when the Chargers played San Francisco, all eyes were peeled to what happened off of it – on the 49ers’ sidelines during the national anthem.
Kaepernick took a knee.
In protest of all that’s bad about America, this is exactly what the Niners’ backup quarterback did last Friday before his team’s otherwise worthless exhibition game vs. Seattle.
It’s doubtful that by sitting out the anthem he’s moved the protest needle to the point of having Sam Adams revolving in his final resting place.
And yet, what Kaepernick did, with social media providing a powerful headwind, was open a 55-gallon drum of worms, enough to supply fishermen until all the lakes, rivers and streams run dry.
Or, until sports’ next scandal du jour comes along, which will be soon.
There’s a fine line here. Was what Kaepernick did unpatriotic? Or as patriotic as you can get?
Were Jefferson, Washington, Franklin – you know, those founding father guys – patriots or anarchists? This country, from what I remember, was founded on a revolution. One of the most important things that came out of it was the right to protest with civility.
And that, precisely, is what Kaepernick did.
I rise for the anthem, although I often (always) wonder why it must be played before sporting events in which an entire country isn’t involved. It isn’t played before we go to work, is it? And most of the time the networks don’t even televise it.
Still, while I don’t condone what he did, I do defend his right, as an American, to sit during the anthem. Maybe in another country he would be jailed for it, or worse. But this isn’t another country. We were founded by stomping on the Union Jack.
Is what Kaepernick did really worse than Roseanne Barr’s mutilation of our song? The anthem has been massacred on many occasions and most of the time it went away like flatulence in a hurricane.
It will happen with Kaepernick. We’ve already basically forgotten about the crapstorm U.S. Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas kicked up when she didn’t put her hand over her heart during the anthem. I’ve been through hundreds of anthems. I didn’t know it was protocol to put one’s hand over one’s heart during it. The Pledge, yes.
There are a whole lot of idiots who make noise during stadium anthems, and I’m guessing some of them are among those now calling Kaepernick a traitor, when he’s anything but.
“I’m not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that opposes black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told NFL Network’s Steve Wyche. “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.”
It’s his right, as his coach Chip Kelly said, as a citizen. But to call this a racist country when it has a sitting black president is ridiculous on the face of it. That racism exists, however, is indisputable. That there have been unspeakable acts, especially during this traumatic year, is undeniable.
America is far from perfect, but it is good enough, plenty good enough, for a backup quarterback to express his anger without fear of reprisal. Kaepernick has a contract that guarantees him $11.9 million this year, and in this country, within this system, it isn’t going to be taken away from him.
He’s never said he’s ungrateful for the opportunity he’s been given, nor is he anti-military. What’s he’s done is exercise his right of free speech. This is not hollering “fire” in a crowded theater. It is a quiet, personal holler.
Protests are made to get a point across. Kaepernick got his point across. But sitting during an anthem isn’t turning bigots into saints, water into wine.
That sides have been taken in this matter is a democratic thing, exacerbated and demonized of course by unsocial media.
But when history writes the final chapter on the great United States protesters, Colin Kaepernick won’t make the list. His act will close. It won’t be long before the cameras get bored and shy from him on the bench.
So, question: Is this all in vain?
Yes. For the most part.
And no, to Colin Kaepernick, American.
But we must remember this country is an infant. So progress crawls.
Kaepernick says he will continue to exercise his right to sit during the anthem until there is “change.”
Hope he carries a comfortable cushion.