Colin Kaepernick sends a message to white people on MLK Day
Free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick has seemingly all but accepted his life as a social activist and not an NFL quarterback.
If his grievance claim against the NFL and its owners for supposedly colluding to keep Kaepernick out of the league isn’t evidence enough, his latest Twitter stunt certainly seems like a strong indication.
While much of the United States celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day by remembering all the good he did for social rights and equality, Kaepernick took the day as an opportunity to skewer white people. He tweeted an image of King along with a quote:
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) January 15, 2018
“I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate,” MLK is quoted as saying in the tweet.
Kaepernick was referencing a letter that King wrote from a Birmingham, Alabama, jail in 1963.
As in 55 years ago.
The great irony of Kaepernick’s attack on white people is the fact that he’s basically saying, 55 years later, that MLK didn’t accomplish anything.
“Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will,” King wrote.
In fairness to MLK, in 1963 he was probably on point with his assessment of general racial indifference.
But in 2018?
It’s hard to interpret Kaepernick’s usage of the quote as anything other than an attack on white people.
It’s no secret that he vehemently opposes bigots, and that’s as it should be. Racism has no place in America today.
But for Kaepernick to claim grave disappointment in the “white moderate” seems like he’s lashing out at anyone who’s not sympathetic to his cause, regardless of his protests during the national anthem, his pig socks and his Fidel Castro shirt.
News flash to Kaepernick: Not everyone sees everything as inherently black and white.
Not everyone takes offense to the slightest misspeak or term.
Not everyone is out to keep you down.
Frankly, Kaepernick’s tweet is a rather sobering look into his frame of mind.
Even on a day of remembrance and celebration such as MLK Day, he sees fit to make everything about division and an “us vs. them” mentality.
That’s not exactly the type of narrative that you want a backup quarterback to be pushing on your roster.
It’s shocking that nobody wants to sign him.
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