Colin Kaepernick knelt 10 years ago. America responded with a clear warning to Black people | Howard Bryant
A decade after Kaepernick’s quiet protest shook the NFL, his exile looks less like an aberration than a blueprint for the culture war that followed America likes nice round numbers, perfect for anniversaries and reflections, and it has, suddenly, been 10 years since Colin Kaepernick first protested police killings – more accurately, police killings of Black people that went unpunished either…
Ten years have passed since Colin Kaepernick initiated his protest against police killings of Black people by taking a knee during the national anthem during the 2016 NFL regular season. The 2016 NFL season marked the beginning of a ten-year journey that has seen Kaepernick's exile take on the appearance of a blueprint for the cultural battles that followed.
America, naturally drawn to round numbers, found itself reflecting on the significance of this event. Despite the passage of time, many crucial details concerning Kaepernick, his banishment, and the importance of his actions have been lost in the shuffle. With the rapid pace of information consumption in the digital age, where attention spans are short and knowledge is frequently conveyed through memes rather than substantive information, the story of Kaepernick's protest has been relegated to the background.
Written by urgent.news from The Guardian US's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
