America has always had its issues as a home for successive waves of ethnic immigration and due to the chattel slavery of the 18th and 19th Centuries. We often talk past each other, unable to empathize and lacking frames of reference.
So it has gone in recent years with the “Anthem kneeling” phenomenon popularized by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Fellow former ‘9ers star Terrell Owens believes that’s the fault of the listener, not the speaker.
T.O.: ‘Showed How White People See Us’
Owens, who lit up the league like a Christmas tree during his 15 years in the NFL, shared his opinions on the Anthem kneeling phenomenon on The Jason Lee Show.
Perhaps the least controversial comments came at the beginning, as Owens said, “I never would have thought it would have created the firestorm that it has. Never thought this guy would never step back on the football field because of that.”
Frankly, most people would agree with that. Many a fan has said some variation of, “Damn, even these clowns refuse to sign Kaepernick?!” over the last few years. But Owens’ next comment is what got the most attention.
“But it really shed light on really kinda how this would works and really how a lot of the White people see us. For so many years, we’ve tried to voice that, I mean, 400-plus something years we’ve been telling you these are some of the things that have been going on and it took … like I said, who would’ve thought that it took a knee to bring all of this back to life.”
This is where the disconnect comes, on both sides of the issue.
Whites didn’t see Kaepernick’s actions as having anything to do with 400 years ago, certainly. Most Americans today come from people who came after the Civil War and the end of chattel slavery anyway.
Looking for Jeff Garcia highlights (don't ask) and came upon this clip.
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) September 6, 2023
Terrell Owens was a different beast.pic.twitter.com/ejR09CF4Lv
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Everybody, Quit Being Obtuse
While Kaepernick may have thought he was shining a light on, initially, police brutality and later larger issues affecting black Americans, that’s not how the message was received. The protests came during the country’s National Anthem – that’s what white America saw.
You can disagree with their views on it, but that’s what they saw: an orphan, raised by white parents to reach the pinnacle of American society and achieve wealth unknown to 99.9999% of all people who have ever lived on this planet, protesting beside symbols of the country they love; the Anthem, the flag, the military, the unique American sport, the country itself.
If Kaepernick’s opponents saw the matter as a racial issue, it was because he demanded that they did so – creating an association between black America, absurdly wealthy crybabies, and opposition to the very symbols many white Americans hold dear.
What’s absurd is that anyone still defends Kaepernick as if he has some right to be a millionaire celebrity athlete. The man made a documentary comparing being a celebrity athlete in the .00001% of wealth holders to literal chattel slavery.
He did this, and then still afterwards demanded to be… well, according to him, placed back into NFL chattel slavery. It’s absurd on it’s face, and whatever the protest was initially meant to be, it is now an obvious cash grab and grift.
White America needs to understand legitimate grievances about policing issues. Black America needs to understand how and why white America feels the way they do about America and her symbols. Because it’s clear that, at this stage, neither side even remotely understands the other.
