Colin Kaepernick's protest, Race Relations and the United States

Captain America
Oct 2, 2016
4 min read

It was August 14th when the 49ers third string quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, began his controversial protest of the United States alleged poor treatment of African Americans in relation to police shootings. Critics would not become aware of the protest until August 26th when the quarterback was actually seen in uniform taking a knee. This would create an extremely controversial discussion of whether this protest was acceptable or disrespectful.

The Facts:

As one of my favorite political collumnists would say:

And its true. That being said lets take a look at what Kaepernick is saying.

"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."

At surface level it makes sense. Sure if a country was killing African American people in the streets for no reason on a regular basis then it makes sense that someone would be so upset. However, once again lets dive into the facts of what is actually going on.

According to a study done by the Washington Post in 2015, we see that there are actually more white people shot by police then African Americans. The numbers actually show that there were almost twice as many whites killed by police then African Americans.

2015 Washington Post Study

White: 495

Black: 258

Hispanic: 172

Male: 949

Female: 42

Now If we dive deeper into the statistics we see that of the 258 African Americans killed by police 188 of them were in possession of a deadly weapon and 151 of them were in possession of a deadly weapon and were in the process of attacking someone.

There were 38 African Americans that were unarmed killed. These instances vary from mistaking objects for weapons to mental illness and not complying to orders. 10 of those 38 African Americans did have mental illness.

Of the 38 unarmed males mentioned above, 15 of them were in the act of attacking someone.

Kaepernicks perceived America:

So what exactly is being said through this protest? Well to sum up what is being said, "America is racist". That is the basic message that is being portrayed.

The logic used to fuel this protest is seriously and severely flawed. To accuse the entire police force of the United States of America of being racist and murdering African American citizens for sport, is not only ridiculous and incredibly ignorant, it is offensive and disgusting. Police Officers put their lives on the line everyday in order to protect the citizens of this country. Put yourself in their shoes, pulling over someone you have never met before in your life. You have no idea whether or not they are violent. Imagine having to resolve an extremely hostile environment and dealing with people who you do not know. It is only understandable that in some cases there would be mistakes made.

Of the 62.9 million police interactions a year, there were only about 10-15 which resulted in an accidental shooting or fatality. I would calculate that failure rate, but it wouldn't even be worth my time. The point is that there will always be mistakes made.

Conclusion

My thoughts on Kaepernicks protest may come as a surprise to some of you.

I disagree.

Let me explain. Based on my findings, research, experience and understanding I believe that this protest is built on a generalization. How? Kaepernick is putting all police officers into the groupings of racists and murderers. Now let me be clear, I am in no way saying that racism did not contribute to a small number of police shootings. By all means I agree and I am aware that there are instances where racism could have been the reasoning for the murders of black victims. That being said, these instances are few and far between. The fact of the matter is that if an African American is shot by police today, it is automatically assumed to be an act of racism. The reason that this has become the norm, is because of people like Colin Kaepernick who push this narrative that police officers in America are trying to murder blacks. It is simply not true and offensive.

This being said, If Colin Kaepernick wants to kneel for the national anthem, he has every right to and I challenge anyone who tries to suppress his rights. It's ironic that the man is protesting the very country that gave him the right to protest freely, but that is his right and that is what we stand for in this country. People who say he is disrespecting our armed forces, police, first responders, etc. Your right. He is in fact doing all of that. However, as good Americans what we can do to show our support for this country is to support Colin Kaepernick's RIGHT to protest.

Hopefully in the future Kaepernick will take a look at the facts as opposed to making ridiculous claims.