Colin Kaepernick made national news this week again after he single-handedly nixed Nike’s rollout of an American themed Nike shoe that featured the Betsy Ross American flag.
That particular American flag featured thirteen stars – representative of the thirteen colonies who fought back against England in the Revolutionary War – and Kaepernick’s justification to Nike was that it was “racist” because slavery was prominent during that time.
And then Kaepernick posted a quote from Frederick Douglass but then Senator Ted Cruz blasted him for his lack of knowledge and historical context of that particular quote.
Disgraced former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is embarrassed by America, and yet, somehow he’s still beloved by millions of people.
It all began almost three years ago when the then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback kneeled for the National Anthem and created a controversial stir claiming it was in protest against police brutality against minorities, specifically the African American community.
It’s important to note Barack Obama was still president at this time and it was looking like Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was the clear favorite to defeat Donald J. Trump that November. We all know what actually happened.
Kaepernick has a knack for being divisive and uses anti-American tactics to do just that. Just recently, Nike canceled plans to roll out a Kaepernick American-themed shoe that featured the Betsy Ross flag but the embattled former athlete waved his wand – even after the shoes were shipped to retail stores nationwide – and suddenly it was gone.
On July 4th, Kaepernick posted a picture and quote from famed African American social reformer, writer, orator and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass.
The quote read, “What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? This Fourth of July is yours, not mine… There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.”
It included a video montage of a longer version of the speech, accompanied by drawings depicting American slaves and photos from the Civil War era. Interspersed are videos from recent years; showing police using force against minorities.
But that quote from Douglass isn’t the whole context and Cruz blasted him for it.
Cruz wrote back, “You quote a mighty and historic speech by the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass, but, without context, many modern readers will misunderstand.”
The Texas senator acknowledges slavery as an atrocity and how inexcusable it is.
Cruz wrote, “This speech was given in 1852, before the Civil War, when the abomination of slavery still existed. Thanks to Douglass and so many other heroes, we ended that grotesque evil and have made enormous strides to protecting the civil rights of everybody.”
He continued, “Douglass was not anti-American; he was, rightly and passionately, anti-slavery. Indeed, he concluded the speech as follows:”
This is where things got a lot more interesting and shows you how Kaepernick cherry-picked from his speech to support his anti-American narrative bias.
But Douglass made a point to clarify what he meant and it’s the most important part.
Cruz noted Douglass ended his speech with, “Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented, of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably, work the downfall of slavery. ‘The arm of the Lord is not shortened,’ and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from ‘the Declaration of Independence,’ the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age.”
Cruz wanted everyone to know they should “READ THE ENTIRE SPEECH,” before taking his quotes out of context.
Kaepernick doesn’t want people to know how Douglass ended his speech; otherwise, he couldn’t paint it in the way that they were both anti-American.
Leave it to Cruz to put Kaepernick in his place while doing it respectfully.