Trump
tries to
divide
us, but
we are
better
nation
than
that
Op-Ed by
Jesse
Jackson
Tell Us
USA News
Network
CHICAGO
- When
Colin
Kaepernick
first
took a
knee
during
the
national
anthem
last
year, he
acted
alone, a
silent
protest
against
a
society
that
repeatedly
fails to
hold
police
accountable
for the
killing
of
unarmed
African
Americans.
Kaepernick
was
condemned
and now
essentially
has been
banned
from the
NFL,
with the
owners
surely
colluding
to
ensure
that a
quarterback
of
immense
talent
would
not find
a place
among
the
dozens
of teams
desperately
in need
of one.
Kaepernick
is alone
no
longer.
After
Donald
Trump’s
ugly
outbursts
and
tweets —
he
called
Kaepernick
and
other
protestors
a “son
of a
b—-,”
urged
the NFL
owners
to kick
out any
player
with the
courage
to
protest
and,
bizarrely,
condemned
rule
changes
designed
to
provide
some
protection
against
concussions
—
players
and even
owners
across
the NFL
reacted.
Teams
linked
arms on
the
sidelines
during
the
anthem,
some
kneeling
and
others
not,
unified
in
protest
of
Trump’s
divisive
rants
and
tweets.
The
Seattle
Seahawks,
Tennessee
Titans
and all
but one
of the
Pittsburgh
Steelers
chose to
stay in
their
locker
rooms
when the
anthem
was
played.
They
stood
together
to
defend
the
right of
their
teammates
to
express
themselves,
whether
they
agreed
with
those
views or
not.
They
stood
together
to show
that
they are
citizens,
not
chattel.
They are
skilled
athletes
practicing
their
profession,
not
chained
slave
gladiators
forced
to
entertain
the mob.
Every
athlete
knows
that
expressing
controversial
views
publicly
is a
harsh
risk.
Their
careers
are
short;
their
contracts
are not
guaranteed.
The
owners
are
billionaires,
dependent
on
public
subsidy,
fearful
of any
controversy.
They are
clearly
prepared,
as they
did with
Kaepernick,
to
punish
independence.
Yet
dozens
of
athletes
responded
to
Trump’s
jibes by
joining
the
protest,
and
their
teammates
stood
arm-in-arm
defending
their
right to
do so.
Trump
thinks
the NFL
is a
plantation.
The
players
showed
the real
patriotism
that the
flag
truly
represents.
For
Trump,
the
assault
on
protesting
black
athletes
— he
also
tweeted
his
withdrawal
of an
invitation
to
Stephen
Curry
and the
Golden
State
Warriors
to visit
the
White
House
after
Curry
expressed
reservations
about
the
president
— is a
classic
diversion.
He has
terrified
the
country
with his
blustery,
schoolyard
insults
to a
North
Korean
leader
armed
with
nuclear
weapons.
His
efforts
to
dismember
basic
health
care are
failing
despite
lies and
bribes.
Hurricanes
and
wildfires
are
mocking
his
inane
denial
of
climate
change.
His
embrace
of the
“fine
people”
in the
neo-Nazi
march in
Charlottesville,
Va.,
alarmed
decent
people
across
the
country.
After
eight
months
in
office,
he has
the
lowest
approval
ratings
of any
president
since
polls
were
invented.
Black
athletes
— many
of them
millionaires
— make a
perfect
foil.
How dare
they
protest
when
they
have
been
“given”
so much?
Much of
Trump’s
base
already
thinks
minorities
enjoy
special
privileges.
Going
after
black
athletes
simply
stokes
their
anger
and
resentment,
while
masking
Trump’s
myriad
failures
and
betrayals.
Kaepernick
took his
knee to
protest
the
criminal
police
killing
of
African
Americans.
This
year to
date,
the
Washington
Post
reports
that 10
unarmed
African
Americans,
and 32
unarmed
people
in
total,
have
been
fatally
shot by
the
police
in the
United
States.
St.
Louis
has been
shaken
by days
of
protests
after
the
acquittal
of a
police
officer
who shot
an
24-year-old
African-American
after a
car
chase.
Trump
has
fueled
this
conflagration.
Police
chiefs
rebuked
him when
he urged
police
to feel
free to
rough up
suspects.
His
Department
of
Justice
has told
prosecutors
to seek
maximum
sentences,
adding
to mass
incarceration
that
shames
this
nation.
His DOJ
has also
scorned
the
consent
agreements
that
Obama’s
Justice
Department
forged
to
reform
racially
biased
police
departments.
Kaepernick
and the
players
taking a
knee
have
ever
more
reasons
to do
so.
The
stern
visage
of Dr.
Martin
Luther
King now
graces
the
national
mall.
America
has come
a long
way
since he
left us.
We are a
more
diverse
nation.
Segregation
is no
more. We
still
need
leaders
and
citizens
who will
work to
bring us
together,
to
reform
biased
institutional
practices,
to
rededicate
ourselves
to
fulfilling
Dr.
King’s
dream.
Sadly,
in the
White
House,
this
president
has
chosen,
purposefully
and with
malice,
to drive
us apart
to serve
his own
political
ends.
The
protests
of the
NFL
players
this
weekend
show
that we
are a
better
nation
than
that.