Protesting on Bended Knee Race, Dissent, and Patriotism in 21St Century America
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Protesting on Bended Knee Race, Dissent, and Patriotism in 21st Century America Unless otherwise indicated, all contributions to this volume appear under a Creative Common BY 4.0 License. These essays appeared originally on The Conversation under a CC-BY-ND 4.0 License: Emma Long, “Trump’s National Anthem Outrage Ignores Decades of Supreme Court Rulings” Shontavia Johnson, “Celebrity Voices are Powerful But Does the First Ammend- ment Let Them Say Anything They Want?” Elizabeth C. Tippett, “The Surprising Connection Between ‘Take a Knee’ Protests and Citizens United” J. Corey Williams, “The Oppressive Seeds of Colin Kaepernick Backlash” Tamir Sorek and Robert G. White, “The Difference Between Black and White Football Fans” ~ David J. Leonard, “#PlayingWhileWhite: The Colin Kaepernick Saga and the (A) political White Athlete” appeared on The Society Pages under a CC-BY-SA-NC license. ~ These essays appear in Black Perspectives and are reprinted here with permis- ison. ©AAIHS Ashley Farmer, “Black Women Athletes, Protest, and Politics: An Interview with Amira Rose Davis” Ameer Hasan Loggins, “Colin Kaepernick and the Power of Silent Protests” Azmar K. Williams, “Unite the Right, Colin Kaepernick, and Social Media” ~ Matt Connolly, “A Former NFL Players Explains Why We Need More Colin Kaepernicks [An Interview with Chris Kluwe]” published with permission. ©Aspen Institute. ~ Jamal Ratchford, “Reparations as Fantasy: Remembering the Black-Fisted Silent Protest at the 1968 Mexico City Games” published with permission of The Pro- cess and the author. Book Design: William Caraher Cover Design: Chris Olsen Library of Congress Control Number: 2018911511 Digital Press at The University of North Dakota, The, Grand Forks, NORTH DAKOTA ISBN-13: 978-1-7328410-0-0 (Paperback) ISBN-13: 978-1-7328410-1-7 (Ebook) Protesting on Bended Knee Race, Dissent, and Patriotism in 21st Century America Edited by Eric Burin The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND A first draft of history for Max and Zoey Table of Contents Opening Ceremonies A Regent of Justice D. M. Kingsford ......................................................................................... i Preface Praesens Historicum (The Historic Present) Eric Burin................................................................................................... iii Introduction Race, Dissent, and Patriotism in 21st Century America Eric Burin................................................................................................... 1 Section One: The United States and Its Anthem “Oh Say, Can You See?”: The National Anthem Jon Foreman .............................................................................................. 87 Mild Protest Clay S. Jenkinson ...................................................................................... 93 Section Two: The Law Bearing Witness for Civil Liberties Shawn Peters ............................................................................................. 101 Trump’s National Anthem Outrage Ignores Decades of Supreme Court Rulings Emma Long ............................................................................................... 105 Anthem Protests in High School Athletics Mark Rerick ............................................................................................... 111 Celebrity Voices are Powerful, But Does the First Amendment Let Them Say Anything They Want? Shontavia Johnson ................................................................................... 115 The Surprising Connection between ‘Take a Knee’ Protests and Citizens United Elizabeth C. Tippett .................................................................................. 123 Section Three: Athlete-Activists #PlayingWhileWhite: The Colin Kaepernick Saga and the (A)political White Athlete David J. Leonard ....................................................................................... 133 Black Women Athletes, Protest, and Politics: An Interview with Amira Rose Davis Ashley D. Farmer ...................................................................................... 141 Voices Beneath the Helmets: Athletes as Political Outsiders Joseph Kalka .............................................................................................. 149 The Oppressive Seeds of the Colin Kaepernick Backlash J. Corey Williams ....................................................................................... 157 A Former NFL Players Explains Why We Need More Colin Kaepernicks [An Interview with Chris Kluwe] Matt Connolly ........................................................................................... 165 What Does It Mean to be Important? Jack Russell Weinstein ............................................................................. 171 Section Four: Tactics Allen’s Knee Richard Newman ...................................................................................... 177 Colin Kaepernick and the Power of Black Silent Protest Ameer Hasan Loggins ............................................................................. 179 African American Patriotism during the World War I Era David Krugler ............................................................................................ 187 We Interrupt This Program Sharon Carson........................................................................................... 195 E Kaepernick Unum: How Our Changing Media Habits Have Left Sports Our Place for Diverse Debate Sarah Cavanah .......................................................................................... 201 Section Five: Counter-Tactics “They Will Use This Against You”: The Context and Legacy of the 2001 France vs. Algeria Protests Andrew N. Wegmann ............................................................................... 207 Unite the Right, Colin Kaepernick, and Social Media Azmar K. Williams ................................................................................... 215 Endgames Mark Stephen Jendrysik .......................................................................... 221 Reparations as Fantasy: Remembering the Black-Fisted Silent Protest at the 1968 Mexico City Games Jamal Ratchford ........................................................................................ 225 Section Six: Others in the Arena Why Sports Journalists Shouldn’t Just “Stick to Sports” Brad Elliott Schlossman .......................................................................... 233 Coaches, Athletes, and Colin Kaepernick Gelaine Orvik ............................................................................................ 235 Learning Extends Beyond the Practice Field Mike Berg ................................................................................................... 239 If You’re Explaining, You’re Losing: Questioning Kaepernick’s Tactics, Not Cause Mac Schneider and David Butler ........................................................... 243 How Social Activism Can Clash with Military Core Values Randy Nedegaard ..................................................................................... 247 The Veteran View of Colin Kaepernick Matt Eidson ............................................................................................... 253 The Difference Between Black Football Fans and White Football Fans Tamir Sorek and Robert G. White........................................................... 257 A Regent of Justice D. M. Kingsford Then kneel before your queen, knee capped by hands up still shot, brought to bear the weight of your men and women and sexless children who didn’t even have time to beg for their lives, kneel, then, before justice who blindly sways with a wind which isn’t meant to billow your sails, for you were never afforded them, athleticism and good looks, brains and charm, but for all that, as much a target down range as anyone. kneel, and while you do, pray for change. Praesens Historicum (The Historic Present) Eric Burin “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything,” urges an advertisement featuring Colin Kaepernick. The pas- sage is inscribed across an undoctored, black-and-white close- up of Kaepernick’s face, a nine-word label affixed right below his eyes, which stare directly and forever forward. The ad is for NIKE, the corporate colossus that generates two-and-half times as much revenue as the National Football League (NFL), and it was unveiled to hyperbolic praise and condemnation in early September 2018, just as this volume was going to press. That a marketing campaign showcasing Kaepernick could roil emotions and dominate headlines testifies to the electrifying nature of his historic crusade against inequality generally and police brutality particularly. Kaepernick began protesting these matters on the field of play in August 2016, when he was a San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback, doing so initially by sit- ting and later by kneeling during the national anthem. Others followed suit. These gestures incited a national furor, and sev- eral of this volume’s essays were originally published during that tumultuous period. A little over a year later, in Septem- iv ber 2017, Kaepernick was out of the NFL, a free agent unable to secure employment despite the fact that many of the league’s thirty-two teams needed a good quarterback and that Kaeper- nick’s statistics indicated that he merited a shot. But Kaeper- nick remained sidelined and only about a dozen NFL players were still demonstrating during the anthem. Then