Simple act by quarterback began global rallying cry
WHEN the reserve quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers dropped to one knee during the American national anthem at a pre-season game in 2016 few took notice.
But scroll on four years and Colin Kaepernick’s gesture, used to indicate his anger at racial injustice in the United States, has become a rallying cry for today’s protesters. In many of the more than 140 US cities that have erupted in anger at the death of George Floyd, demonstrators are “taking a knee” and asking police to do the same.
In Washington, hundreds who had gathered before the White House yesterday dropped to a single knee, some raising a fist, in defiance against the curfew ordering them off the street.
Countless videos have been shared during the past week of police acquiescing to protesters’ calls and kneeling.
Those scenes can become emotional, with protesters applauding and even hugging officers. At times they have defused tensions, taken as a nod to the injustice driving the protests.
But at other times lines of officers have stood impassively, shields in hands and protective helmets on, despite the chants of “take a knee”.
It reflects how a simple act by a sportsman has snowballed into a universal symbol both of the anger at racism in countries around the world, and the urgent need for change.
In 2016 Kaepernick actually started his protest a week before his kneeling, remaining sat on a bench for the national anthem – a time other players stand with a hand over their heart.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour,” he had explained to a reporter who spotted the move.
But after discussing it with a former teammate, who noted that soldiers take a knee for a fallen comrade to show respect, the quarterback switched his protest.
Kaepernick always denied the claim of critics that it was “anti-american”, saying once: “I love America. I love people. That’s why I’m doing this. I want to help make America better.”
The protest spread. One match day in Sept 2017 more than 200 players took a knee, reflecting how widely the sense of injustice was felt by those in the NFL.
But so too did the backlash. Donald Trump, who took office in Jan 2017, was fiercely critical of the move, urging teams to tell players who knelt: “You’re fired.”
Kaepernick found himself unable to get a new contract with San Francisco 49ers, or any NFL team. He was effectively ostracised from the league.
He remains out of contract, though hopes to play again. He was made the face of a huge Nike advertising campaign in 2018. “Believe in something,” he says in one advert.
One of the more high-profile moments of a knee being taken came during demonstrations in Boston on Tuesday. More than a thousand protesters gathered at the city’s police headquarters, separated from officers by a barricade. As they began to chant “take a knee” the officers, some in high-visibility jackets with helmets on and truncheons in their hands, looked on impassively. But then one took a few steps forward and dropped to a single knee. As the crowd cheered he motioned for others to join him. Some did.
Another of the officers, Kim Tavares, walked up to the crowd applauding and then high-fiving protesters. She too took a knee, right by the barricades.
“Black lives do matter,” she later told a local television crew.
Kaepernick has thrown his support behind the protests, sharing similar scenes from across the country of kneeling in peaceful protest, as he did four years ago.
‘I love America. I love people. That’s why I’m doing this. I want to help make America better’