By Sope Eweje, For The African-American Athlete
One of the most consistently powerful and opinionated black voices in the sports broadcasting world is Stephen A. Smith, co-host of ESPN’s First Take. Over the last few years, he has offered colorful commentary on a number of issues within sports. Most recently, he spoke on the controversy that has been on the minds of many Americans, black and white, over the last few days: Colin Kaepernick’s protest.
During his radio show on Monday, Stephen A. brought up a very good point regarding the reaction to Kaepernick’s decision to sit down for the playing of the national anthem as a protest of this country’s treatment of African-Americans. A few weeks ago at the ESPYs, he recalls, Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Paul took the stage to discuss the role athletes must play in alleviating the issues that plague the black community especially involving police brutality.
“The racial profiling has to stop. The shoot-to-kill mentality, has to stop. Not seeing the value of black and brown bodies, has to stop,” Dwyane Wade said as he stood side by side with the other superstars.
Chris Paul specifically mentioned the names of Jackie Robinson, Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali, and many other black athletes who took notable stands against bigotry and violence leveled against the black community. He said that today’s athletes must do the same and “choose to follow in their footsteps.”
Fast forward to today. We can all agree that Colin Kaepernick has done exactly what those NBA players were calling for. But why is it that when Lebron James and company delivered their message they were praised, but Colin Kaepernick has by and large been vilified by people across the country?
The difference is that Kaepernick did not seek permission from anyone, says Stephen A. Smith. He did what he thought was right, without caring about what people might think or the repercussions. The ESPYs were a controlled environment with millions of people watching; when 4 lovable NBA superstars take the stage at one of the world’s biggest sports events, all in agreement on a particular issue, it’s hard to say something against them. But when one man takes a stand that many people might find offensive in order to draw attention to the very same issue, chaos ensues.
“Colin Kaepernick will unquestionably suffer,” says Stephen A. “He’ll suffer with endorsements…he might get cut, we don’t know…Melo’s not gonna suffer, CP3’s not gonna suffer, D-Wade’s not gonna suffer, Lebron James is not gonna suffer. But Colin Kaepernick will.”
If this doesn’t show you how brave Colin Kaepernick is being right now, I don’t know what will. He truly is speaking for millions of people right now who, as he said, do not have the platform to speak for themselves.
10 years from now, we’re probably not going to remember that ESPYs speech. 10 years from now, the death of Dwyane Wade’s cousin due to gun violence will likely be forgotten. 10 years from now, nobody will remember the numerous athletes that have briefly mentioned issues regarding the black community this year. All will be forgotten. But Colin Kaepernick will be remembered, just as Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, and others have been.
So stay strong, Colin. One day our country will look back and realize how historic a moment this is.
Listen to Stephen A. Smith on Colin Kapernick.
(Sope Eweje, hails from North Carolina, where basketball is king. He is a student at MIT, and is studying bio-mechanical engineering. You can contact him on Facebook (Basically Basketball) and Twitter (@basicallybball).
