What a week it has been for the man we call Colin Kaepernick. Right after it was discovered that he doesn’t stand for the National Anthem due to police brutality issues, there have been opinions left and right. Some people love it while others hate it. You have people distancing themselves while Kaepernick’s jersey sales are on the rise. Hell, you even have the Santa Clara Police Department demanding some type of “consequence” for Kaepernick’s actions. All in all, Colin Kaepernick has successfully done what he chose to do: bring light to an issue.
Some of the naysayers should be relieved that his actions have gone beyond the “sitting phase”. From his pledges of millions to the needy to the purchase of bookbags for students, Colin Kaepernick has kept himself busy. Not only that, he hasn’t relinquished his position; in fact, he has strengthened it. He even has been caught wearing “pig socks” to mock cops. Adding the fact that he puffed out his afro, Kaepernick has kept his protest train moving.
And as soon as the sun shined through that said afro, Cam Newton found time to become the chagrin of all those that watch him.
When the media asked Cam Newton about his thoughts about Colin Kaepernick’s protesting, he kept his thoughts quite undefined and worldy in one fell swoop. First of all, he noted that he didn’t have the credentials to say if Kaepernick was wrong or right. And then, he went off into the deep end:
A lot of scrutiny happens when an athlete starts talking about, you know, race, but the truth of the matter is we’ve just got to do right by each other, no matter what color you are. Certain things that have happened in our lifetime, it is kind of embarrassing to be affiliated with, but it still happens. But who am I to say, ‘Colin, you’re wrong, bro’? And who am I to say, ‘Bro, you’re right’? Because we all have the right to think whatever we want to think, and I respect that about everybody.[1]
Instead of taking a stand, Newton decided to dance around the issue in the most worldly way possible. In fact, this is the brand new Cam Newton that I thought I would never see: that of a coward.
Cam Newton Cowardice
Before I become berated by hate by saying that Cam Newton is a coward, please pay attention to how this all played out. This is the same man that told reporters that he is a “black quarterback” and that “may scare a lot of people”. This is the same man that has actually faced racial scrutiny for celebrating after touchdowns. This is the man that refused to apologize for anything he said back in the Ebony article. Now, he is tap dancing around issues like Gregory Hines in Tap.
But we all know WHY he is tap dancing like Savion Glover: he is afraid of looking a certain way in public. You see, Cam Newton has “much more to lose” if he takes on a certain social position. He will likely lose the support of those that would rather him say “we are the world” than “please stop killing innocent people”. It is way easier to keep yourself on a cereal box if you note that “we all need to treat each other better”.
And that is where we are at now when it comes to civil rights: those that will take on issues and those that will Macarena around them. We are going to have those that will risk it all and those that will watch their step. We have those that will risk losing colleagues and those that will do whatever it takes to keep endorsement deals. We will have those that will rock a Huey Newton fro and donate money to progression and those that will “keep it classy” and give quips about “1/8th of an inch of skin” to relate to human oppression issues.
Cam Newton Can Keep Tap Dancing
In short, Cam Newton can keep tap dancing all the way through his career. At this point, it really doesn’t matter. Why doesn’t it matter? It doesn’t matter because we all know the truth. Cam Newton has to remember that the internet, nor the media, never forgets. So, Cam Newton can preach that “we all need to treat each other better.” I hope he realizes how many treated him for being a black quarterback trying to do right by his team.