“I have great respect for men and women who fought for this country. I have family, I have friends who have gone and fought for this country. They fight for freedom. They fight for the people, and they fight for liberty and justice.”
Those are the words of Colin Kaepernick speaking to the media after he first took a knee during the National Anthem on September 1, 2016. Afterwards, he spoke with media for 18 minutes straight explaining why he was taking a knee, what it meant and specifically what it didn’t mean. He couldn’t have been more clear. And yet, his message was hijacked to be Anti-American, Anti-Military, Anti-All White People, and Anti-Police. Even though that’s the complete opposite of everything he expressed.
So from that day on, any semblance of taking a knee, standing in unity with the movement started by Kaepernick has been completely rejected by much of white America. This was on full display in last night’s season opener as the Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Houston Texans in a season opener that will be etched in history for all of the wrong reasons.
The chiefs were allowed to have close to 17,000 fans (as if the coronavirus is no longer a concern but I digress) and right before kickoff, players from both teams got together for what was called a “Moment Of Unity” following the performance of the National Anthem and “Lift Every Voice And Sing” commonly known as the Black National Anthem.
Houston Texans executive Vice President Of football operations Jack Easterly told NBC Sports that the demonstration was “Not about Black or white. It’s about change.”
Seven phrases developed by players on both teams were displayed on the scoreboard during the moment:
We Support Equality
We Must End Racism
We Believe in Justice for All
We Must End Police Brutality
We Choose Unconditional Love
We Believe Black Lives Matter
It Takes All of Us
Reportedly, this was originally conceived in part by Texans QB Deshaun Watson and Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes (both of whom are Black) and it was fully embraced by both teams.
However, fans had a very unexpected reaction as both teams were showered with boos during their “Moment of Unity”. In a disgusting display so loud and so massive that it could be heard on camera as football fans around the world watched in amazement.
https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1304228576506662913?s=21
Why were they booing ?
Is Racism and Police Brutality so American that when you protest it people think you are actually protesting America ?
To add insult to injury, Kansas City Chief fans also took part in the “Arrowhead Chop” which the team announced in late August they were “engaged in a thorough review process of and exploring all options for a modified engagement from the Drum Deck”
The team also banned fans from wearing headdresses, face paint, or any outfits that are
“Styled in a way that references or appropriates American Indian Cultures”
https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/08/20/chiefs-ban-headdresses-face-paint-reviewing-arrowhead-chop
The team also announced that they were in conversations with the American Indian Community Working Group.
It’s probably no coincidence that this all came about a month after the Washington Football was forced to acquiesce to the demands of Fed Ex to change the name of the team.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/07/02/fedex-redskins-name-change/
But whatever the reason, the Kansas City Chiefs we’re making a concerted effort to avoid their tone deaf past and listen to a group of people who are telling them that the practices and customs they had adopted as an organization are in deed offensive to the history and culture of the Indigenous people of this country.
However, all of the fans are obviously not on board with this transition as displayed by their exhibition last night.
Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas took to Twitter to defend his city by saying,
“We’re a good city of good people. I heard boos too. But we also have hundreds of thousands more around here who respect the message the players are sharing; who respect the rights of our players and people to voice a strong message and who are working to make us better each day."
https://twitter.com/quintonlucaskc/status/1304256871767904256?s=21
Let’s hope his assessment of the overall fans and people of Kansas City is accurate and not just wishful thinking, because the message the fans sent last night was crystal clear.
