Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Speaks On Colin Kaepernick And Those Insulting Him In The Name Of Patriotism

Former NBA star, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has thrown his hat into the ring as the latest to offer his take on the controversy surrounding Colin Kaepernick’s decision to remain seated during the singing of the National Anthem. In an essay written for the Washington Post, Abdul-Jabbar compares Kaepernick’s act of patriotism to that of Army Reserve 2nd Lt. Sam Kendricks, who in the middle of a pole vault attempt at the Olympics in Rio, dropped his pole and stood at attention as soon as heard the National Anthem being played.

“Colin Kaepernick chose not to stand with his teammates during the national anthem. To some, Kendricks embodies traditional all-American Forrest Gump values of patriotism, while Kaepernick represents the entitled brattish behavior of a wealthy athlete ungrateful to a country that has given him so much. In truth, both men, in their own ways, behaved in a highly patriotic manner that should make all Americans proud.”

He went on to explain his reasoning. “Patriotism isn’t just getting teary-eyed on the Fourth of July or choked up at war memorials. It’s supporting what the Fourth of July celebrates and what those war memorials commemorate: the U.S. Constitution’s insistence that all people should have the same rights and opportunities and that it is the obligation of the government to make that happen. When the government fails in those obligations, it is the responsibility of patriots to speak up and remind them of their duty.” 

In a nutshell, if you’re using patriotism as a reason to denounce Colin Kaepernick, you’re not being very patriotic. Wars were fought for our very right to have the freedom to protest. 

“What makes an act truly patriotic and not just lip-service is when it involves personal risk or sacrifice. Both Kendricks and Kaepernick chose to express their patriotism publicly because they felt that inspiring others was more important than the personal cost.”

The legendary basketball player closes his remarks by saying, “What should horrify Americans is not Kaepernick’s choice to remain seated during the national anthem, but that nearly 50 years after Ali was banned from boxing for his stance and Tommie Smith and John Carlos’s raised fists caused public ostracizing and numerous death threats, we still need to call attention to the same racial inequities. Failure to fix this problem is what’s really un-American here.”

Read the full post HERE.