Colin Kaepernick and united black people

[Cassius Clay]

A rather insidious function of white supremacy is keeping black people divided. I can see this on multiple levels. When Colin Kaepernick first started his protest, people tried to shame him by making it about him being rich and raised by adoptive white parents, so what the hell could he possibly have to complain about(like he's not really "black" anyway). It's as if they can't fathom why a black person would care about other black people. Like he only has the right to speak up if he has suffered...he can't possibly just be, you know, angry at the treatment of people who look like him. Even his stupid, biological white mother who gave him up for adoption tried to shame him. I was really proud and moved by how black twitter stood behind Kaepernick and responded to this shameless attempt to undermine his Kaepernick's blackness with the hilarious #kapsoblack hashtag. And it was so beautifully fitting that this was around the time that he showed up for a game and suddenly had a huge afro.

White America loves black celebs that just take their money and keep their mouth shut. They love black people who are "detached" from their blackness and fully assimilate with whiteness. A successful black person who unapologetically speaks up for other black people scares the shit out of them, and their go-to tactic is to shame them into silence. Makes me wonder if that's why so many black celebs don't speak up...like they feel as if they don't have the right to speak on oppression.

I was recently thinking about how inner-city violence is a result of the destruction of black communities/unity by white supremacy. I believe when the cohesiveness of the community is undermined, violence rises; especially when folks don't have the luxury of the state doing violence on their behalf.

[CashRules]

I was glad to see Jerry Rice finally came around after initially telling Colin to stand up. It just pisses me off that people can't see the obvious fascism in the uber-patriotic nonsense of telling people to respect a piece of cloth or a damn song.

[Monk]

With people who say Kaepernick should leave the USA if he doesn't like it, I've started responding that they should move to North Korea if they want standing during the national anthem to be mandatory.

With the Charlotte protests going on right now and the inevitable white people complaining that they should be protesting nonviolently if they want to be taken seriously, it's great to point out how well that's working with white people and Kaepernick. These are also the same assholes talking about how much of a hero Ali was, and I'm just dumbfounded.

[Cassius Clay]

I didn't even know about the Jerry Rice thing. Glad he had a change of heart. Similar thing is happening with Richard Sherman. And Cam Newton is just all over the place trying to play both sides. He should just keep his mouth shut. It's crazy how he was seen as the unapologetic, black QB last season...and now he sounds like a sellout. Like somebody got to him or something.

This kind of blind, performative nationalism is really scary though. Did you guys hear that, back in 2009, the military paid the NFL to act more patriotic?

[CashRules]

the military paid the NFL to act more patriotic?

The rise of fascism in this country is so obvious it's ridiculous how few see it. It's like they don't want to see it. More likely, few know what fascism actually is which is why they so easily fall for slogans rather than substance. Watch any TV advertisement about any branch of the military and young people are practically being told to sign up to be fascist, imperialist enforcers.