Eric Reid: Why Colin Kaepernick and I Decided to Take a Knee
I have too often seen our efforts belittled with statements like “He should have listened to the officer,” after watching an unarmed black person get shot, or “There is no such thing as white privilege” and “Racism ended years ago.” We know
that racism and white privilege are both very much alive today.
But, to quote James Baldwin, “exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”
I can’t find words that appropriately express how heartbroken I am to see the constant smears
against Colin, a person who helped start the movement with only the very best of intentions.
I approached Colin the Saturday before our next game to discuss how I could get involved with the cause
but also how we could make a more powerful and positive impact on the social justice movement.
And it’s disheartening and infuriating that President Trump has referred to us with slurs
but the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Va., as “very fine people.” His remarks are a clear attempt to deepen the rift that we’ve tried so hard to mend
A few weeks later, during preseason, my teammate Colin Kaepernick chose to sit on the bench during the national anthem to protest police brutality.
It has always been my understanding that the brave men and women who fought and died for our country did so to ensure
that we could live in a fair and free society, which includes the right to speak out in protest.
We spoke at length about many of the issues that face our community, including systemic
oppression against people of color, police brutality and the criminal justice system.
