White male would bolster

It’s time for a white guy to join the cause. For more than a month now, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been staging a national anthem protest against police brutality, and a plethora of his NFL brethren have joined him in kneeling during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

But on Thursday, Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett told The Seattle Times that something is missing from this movement, an element that could help legitimize the cause.

“You need a white guy to join the fight,” Bennett told the Times. “The white guy is super important to the fight. For people to really see social injustices, there must be someone from the other side of the race who recognizes the problem, because a lot of times if just one race says there’s a problem, nobody is realistic about it.”

Thus far, that hasn’t happened. Several white NFL players have admitted to supporting Kaepernick’s cause, led by Patriots defensive end Chris Long, who told ESPN Radio that “this is a wonderful country, and I think everyone agrees on that, but there are things in our country that can improve.” Long did add, however, that he would “never kneel” for the anthem. “We all come from different walks of life and think differently about the anthem and the flag and what that means,” he said at the time. Other white athletes have shown solidarity with Kaepernick, but most of the prominent figures have also known marginalization to some extent. The most well-known white player to replicate Kaepernick’s stance is national women’s soccer player Megan Rapinoe, who is gay. Earlier this week, the entire Indiana Fever WNBA team — including white players Jeannette Pohlen and Maggie Lucas — knelt during the playing of the national anthem before a playoff game. But no prominent white male