Barkley knows how Kaepernick feels

Athletes and others kneeling in support of Colin Kaepernick can stand up, proudly.

They’ve won. Kaepernick’s kneeling protest during the national anthem has gained the attention of the world, and he’s gained a level of power that goes beyond anything any other quarterback — active or otherwise — has been able to reasonably imagine.

“What non-believers fail to understand,” Kaepernick said a newly released Nike ad that emphasizes abstract ideals rather than athletic accomplishments, “is that calling a dream ‘crazy’ is not an insult. It’s a compliment.”

Right-thinking, nuanced people have heard him, even if he’s been silent.

So have people known for being blunt.

“The problem with Colin’s thing is, No. 1: He never talks about it. He let the president and all these people on radio and television change his message,” Charles Barkley said in a phone interview with The Arizona Republic.

Barkley, perhaps more than anyone,

knows what it might feel like to be at the center of controversy over misinterpretations and an edgy Nike ad.

It’s been 25 years since he said, “I’m not a role model.”

It was a black-and-white, 30-second spot. Watching it was like getting punched in the face.

“I am not a role model,” he said in the ad. “I am not paid to be a role model. I am paid to wreak havoc on the basketball court. Parents should be role models. Just because I dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids.”

Mainstream critics said he was trying to shirk his responsibility. That was never the case for Barkley.

He said he went to Nike with the idea because he saw too many young black boys who wanted to be NBA players. He wanted more of them to aspire to be professionals, maybe engineers or doctors.

“I was really just trying to start a conversation,” he said.

People weren’t hearing him. “It was difficult at the time,” Barkley said, thinking back to 1993, “because, you know, you hear all these fools on TV talk about what you meant to say, what you’re trying to say. And the thing that got me through it … parents loved it.”

He sees similarities in what’s happening today.

“The parallel with Colin is, we have lost perspective on the whole thing,” he said.

Kaepernick hasn’t spoken publicly. An email and a phone call to his attorney, Mark Geragos, were not immediately returned. It’s likely his collusion case against the NFL prevents him from speaking out.

Kaepernick has communicated instead through his actions, and the Nike sponsorship. He has donated $1 million to charities, according to his website, kaepernick7.com. He’s given money to city kids who want to play baseball. He’s put formerly homeless mothers in apartments. He’s donated to low-income men who need haircuts and suits for job interviews.

He also started the “Know Your Rights” camp, teaching kids that they have the right to be free, healthy, brilliant, safe, loved, courageous, alive, trusted and educated. They also talk about how to safely interact with police, and about police brutality.

And isn’t that what this is all about? Making sure black men aren’t killed over stealing cigars, or selling loose cigarettes, or napping in the park?

In picking this fight, Kaepernick and those who support him have realized a new level of economic and social power.

Arizona State University professor Victoria Jackson recently wrote a guest column for the Washington Post: “Colin Kaepernick’s Nike sponsorship shows that athletes have more power than they realize.”

In a phone interview Friday, Jackson said she read reports that Nike’s contract with Kaepernick included the shoe company “donating directly to Kaepernick’s ‘Know Your Rights’ camps. That got me excited, because I’ve never heard of anything like that before. … That means there’s substance behind this.”

Jackson said Nike’s relationship with Kaepernick shows athletes can think of “sponsorship as kind of more collaborative partnership. … That you don’t just take the money and the gear and perform and focus on training. That if you’re passionate about something, you can work with the company that sponsors you to create something really powerful. And the companies are all going to be interested to do that, because they all have social impact built into their missions, too. It’s like everybody wins.”

Already, Kaepernick and those supporting him are winning.

Legions of people have been activated. Newly empowered athletes can now direct their efforts, using the media to attract attention to social-justice projects that need money, volunteers and visibility.

It’s time to move past whether this has anything to do with the flag or the military. It doesn’t. Right-thinking, nuanced people understand that.

So do people known for being blunt. President Donald Trump, blamed by Barkley and others for fomenting the controversy for the past two years, said he disagrees with Nike and Kaepernick.

But he also said, “It’s what this country is all about. That you have freedoms to do things that other people think you shouldn’t do.”

Everyone can all stand now, proudly. There’s work to be done.