As Colin Kaepernick’s protest grows, a number professional, collegiate, and even highchool athletes are taking a stand. But while other sports are joining the fight, nearly 250 MLB games have been played and not one player has taken a knee–but why? According to Baltimore Orioles player Adam ones, its because baseball is “a white man sport.”
“We already have two strikes against us already,” the All-Star Center Fielder, “so you might as well not kick yourself out of the game. In football, you can’t kick them out. You need those players. In baseball, they don’t need us.”
The “us” Jones was seemingly referring to, are players of color, namely black players.
While both the NFL and the NBA are each comprised of nearly 70% of black players, the MLB’s numbers are far different. There are currently 69 black players on both the opening-day rosters and disabled list. This number counts for just 8% of the entire league.
“Kaepernick is not disrespecting the military. He’s not disrespecting people who they’re fighting. What he’s doing is showing that he doesn’t like the social injustice that the flag represents,” Jones said. “I’ve seen Kaepernick called the N-word just because he’s being sensitive to what has happened to African-Americans in this country. It’s crazy how when people of color speak up, we’re always ridiculed. But when people that are not of color speak up, it’s their right. The First Amendment says we have freedom of expression. We’re supposed to be so free, so free. But any time anybody of color speaks up in the United States, for some odd reason, they always get the raw end of the deal. It sucks.”
Jones also commented on another 49ers player, Bruce Miller, who was arrested after allegedly punching a 70-year-old man.
“Here’s my thing,’’ Jones says, “there’s somebody on the 49ers’ team that commits an act like that, accosts a 70-year-old man and his kid, and nobody’s talking about that. But they talk about Kaepernick doing something that he believes in, as his right as an American citizen, Jones said. “He’s not receiving the ridicule and public torture that Kaepernick is facing. Is Kaepernick hurting me? No. Is he hurting random people out there? No. I support his decision.”
Ultimately, Jones agrees with Kaepernick’s message, and even his protest. “No one has done it, yet,’’ Jones said. “But that’s the key word here: Yet.”
Sources: USAToday
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