Tag: Equality

CK7 – Brave or Buffoon: The Colin Kaepernick Caper

Colin Kaepernick takes a knee to try and look brave, but might just look like a buffoon.

On a rather routine Friday night, in a suburb town off the Bay, a once great athlete, took to the field for the first time in nine months to begin his journey back to being the leader of his team. He sat on the bench waiting for his moment to step onto the field. The crowd was on it’s feet, his team lined up along the edge of the field, the music filled the stadium, the opposing team 160 feet across the grassy field. Many boys have dreamed of a moment like this. This is a moment straight out of the movies. And so few people ever find themselves the focal point of this kind of moment, but this cool late summer evening, was just that moment.

Several years ago my personal favorite band wrote, recorded, and made a video of a song called “Stuck in a Moment”. Yes, the U2 song. It featured a Football Kicker who missed a winning field goal to lose the game. Now he has to live with that moment for the rest of his life. Well, Colin Kaepernick, just became that kicker. Only he didn’t miss a field goal, he didn’t even lose the game. He made a choice BEFORE the game that has forever changed how people think of him.

Take a Stand

Kaepernick feels he needs to make a stand, by sitting. Sitting during the National Anthem. His personal protest is totally legal, it is even protected by the Constitution of the United States. Just because it is legal and protected, does not make it right, or correct. But that is a matter of opinion as well. The stand he is taking, is he can not respect a flag that stands for a country that oppresses black people, and people of color.

Maybe Mr. Kaepernick hasn’t seen the skin color of the top paid player on his own team (Him, at over $100 Million), maybe he hasn’t been able to see the skin color of the majority of the sports league he plays in because of the uniforms the white owners make the players wear. Maybe he hasn’t seen the skin color of the majority of athletes in the other professional sports in this country. Maybe he has forgotten who is President of these United States. And maybe, Kaepernick is just victim who has fallen for the media bias that sells their papers, magazines, websites, and commercials.

Histories Mistakes

Black man held down by White man; Brown man expelled from US by White man; Red man forced to live on Reservation by White man; Oriental men sent to prison camps by White man.

Does the United States of America have a few black eyes, (or should I not use ‘black’ and say ‘bruised’ instead) of course it does. The fact is not what things were done in the past, rather it is what is being done today. But let’s look at the past a moment, before looking at today.

Black & White

It was a group of White men who sat in a room and wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence that freed this country and opened the possibility of freedoms for all of us, and yes Mr. Kaepernick too. And it is this document that first states, “that all men are created equal.” It was a group of White men who, again, gathered in a room to write the Constitution of the United States, which gives Kaepernick and the rest of us to express ourselves how we feel fit.

It was White men who fought and died to free this country. Next, it was White men who fought and died to end slavery of black/colored people. It was a White man who stood up and gave a speech to free ALL of the slaves, regardless of their skin color. Also, it is the White man who who signed the Civil Rights Bill and gave the Black man a voice. And it was a White man who first hired, and paid, the first Black athlete. All of this happened paving the way for Mr. Kaepernick to one day sign a contract for over $100 Million to play a game that many of us play for free in our backyards.

And today?

But all of that was in the past, what is happening today. White men and Black men own companies together. Black men loan White men money, White men loan Black men money. Black men and White men play professional sports, together. Also, Black men and White men work in Washington D.C. making the laws of the country, side by side, and in every state in the Union. Black men and White men fight and protect our freedoms each and everyday, in our Countries Military. Black men and White men put on the same Blue Uniform everyday and keep our towns and cities safe. And Black men and White men put on suit and ties everyday and fill Mayor, City Council, County Commissioner, State Wide, and Governor posts in every state in the Union. Finally, a Black man holds the highest office in the country.

So I ask Mr. Kaepernick, “who is being oppressed?” Maybe I should change that and ask, Who is oppressing who? Seems to me, the White man has no issue with the Black man. You, Mr. Black man, are demanding $100 Million from the White man. Black Lives Matters is demanding the White man GIVE them their demands. And Black actors are demanding the White man give them Oscars.

Why should you, or they, get their demands? Maybe these things should just be earned. But what do I know? I’ve only had to work for my less than $100 Thousand a year living (that’s less than 1/10 of a percent of Mr. Kaepernick’s earnings). The White men (and women) who fight and die to protect Mr. Kaepernick’s freedom to earn hundreds of millions, earn less than a tenth of a percent of his earnings. Maybe Kaepernick would be open to switching salaries?

Setting the example

As for Kaepernick’s protest, it holds no water. If he truly wants to make a difference in the lives of Black people, he needs to be an example that a Black man can succeed in our country. So many of the young Black kids that are looking up to men like him, are only seeing the bad examples. How can a young man grow up to be a great man, when all he has to show the way, is thugs?

As for me, I want to look for and celebrate young people, and adults who find a way to better themselves. Who work hard to provide for themselves and family, and not rely on free handouts or make excuses. And when a now all but washed up athlete, shows the kind of immature child he truly is, as Kaepernick and Ryan Lockte, I want to find the example of just the opposite, like Russel Wilson and yes, even, Micheal Phelps. Oh wait, did I just include a Black man as a positive role model? See, even this White man promotes Black men. Maybe someday, the Black man will finally be color blind, this White man has been for years.

Colin @Kaepernick7 will you lead the way? I would gladly join you on that.

Opportunity: The American Dream

Opportunity, EQUAL opportunity is the answer I gave.

Opportunity is everywhere in America

Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and Gary Johnson are all out making campaign speeches about what America is and/or should be. And it seems each of them have a different view and message. Some of them want to give stuff away, others want to give even more away, some say we need to take things back, others want to return things that were taken. It all just depends on the topic and who is asking.

Well, earlier this week I was given the chance to share my thoughts on what I thought “The American Dream” means to me. Well, the first thing that popped up in my head is home ownership. That is mostly because of my work at Habitat for Humanity, and the fact that the media always defines it that way. But I spend more time thinking about it, and talked with a few folks about it. And my answer finally came back to me. Opportunity! Not just opportunity, but equal opportunity. Now, I don’t mean special treatment to be “fair”, I mean, the SAME opportunities.

My own way

I want the Opportunity to choose my own way, Opportunity to be who I want to be, Opportunity to raise my family and provide for them how I see fit. Opportunity to teach my girls true education, Opportunity to succeed, and the Opportunity to fail. I want the Opportunity to learn.

If Steve Jobs is allowed to create Apple in his parents backroom, I should be allowed the SAME opportunities to build the company I want to build. I don’t want handouts, because what happens when those handouts dry up? I wouldn’t know how to get more of it. Personally, I want to try, succeed, fail, and learn how to do.

The American Dream, to me, is not owning a home, having a job, getting married, or having kids, it’s that it offers the possibility to do and have ALL of those available to everyone who is willing to do what is needed to achieve them. The American Dream has leveled the field by allowing for all to have an equal opportunity to achieve what they want. Not the same stuff as everyone else, but the same opportunities that everyone else has.

Handouts?

I do not want handouts. Yes, it is nice and easy if things I needed/wanted were just handed to me. But what happens when the supplier of the handouts no longer has the means to give those handouts. I would have no way of knowing how to get that money, food, or service. And who’s to say that the supplier of the handout can’t decide to just take it back, then where am I?

That is why I want to provide for myself and my family. I want to work for my stuff, money, food, house, whatever. And when I don’t know how to provide for myself, I want to figure it out, I want to learn how to do “the thing.” Call a friend and have them teach me how to do “the thing,” that way I can do it for myself the next time.

The American Dream is the leveling of the playing field, through opportunity. By opening up the opportunity for each and every human being to have the legal right to create the life they want to have. Imagine if Steve Jobs would have lived in North Korea, Apple would not exist today.

The American Dream IS opportunity.