214 Shares 100



114

0







Colin Kaepernick, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, has received much attention of late for his refusal to stand for the national anthem during a pre-season game. Kaepernick has announced that he will continue to sit for the national anthem as long as Black people are oppressed in the United States. Kaepernick immediately predicted that his actions would garner backlash from the corporate controlled NFL establishment. Corporate sponsors demand obedience, and his stand pierces the very heart of US imperialism. However, this has not stopped the 28 year old Milwaukee native from continuing to stand firm against white supremacy in the United States. Now we must stand with him and defend his actions from the attacks they will inevitably receive.

Kaepernick broke an unwritten, but heavily enforced law in the foundation of the US sporting market. Corporate sports, especially football, are part and parcel of the ideological foundation of US imperialism. The US military state is worshiped at these events in order to foster what Malcolm X called blind patriotism. As political prisoner George Jackson wrote in 1971, US imperialism creates a mass corporate culture that emphasizes

spectacular leisure sports; parades where strangers meet, shout each other down and

trample each other on the way home; mass consumption of worthless super-studs . . .

ritualistic, ultra nationalistic events to glorify the idiots who died at war or other days to

deify those who sent them out to die. A mass society that is actually a mass jungle.

The mass jungle Jackson describes also includes the daily murder of Black Americans at the hands of the police. This is the phenomenon that Kaepernick has taken a stand against. At this stage of US imperialism, the military and the police have merged into one militarized state. US imperialism's militarized regime has profoundly influenced the culture of the sports industry. NFL teams were paid 5 million dollars in 2015 by the Department of Defense for various events and projects that "honored the troops" at game time. This is the same Department of Defense that has funneled more military weaponry to the police under the Obama Administration than any other administration prior.

So even though Kaepernick has called those serving in the military "heroes," his refusal to stand for the national anthem challenges the very roots of the US military state. The American flag and the anthem "the Star Spangled Banner" have been paired together for decades to reinforce the mythology of American Exceptionalism. Few in the US know that the song itself is actually a defense of slavery and a condemnation of the British practice of freeing African slaves in the US mainland during the War of 1812. That's because schools and sporting events that force people to “pledge allegiance” use a version of the song which ends just short of its racist verse.

Standing for the national anthem subtly reaffirms the genocidal, white supremacist history of US imperialism. By refusing to do so, Kaepernick broke a sacred oath that athletes are supposed to swear upon once immersed in the corporate sports arena. The exorbitant salaries paid to professional athletes is ultimately a small price for the corporate non-profits and their monopoly sponsors raking in super-profits from the sale of athletic brands. But the corporate sports industry is more than just a profitable venture. Corporate sports games disseminate ruling class ideology to the oppressed classes.

Sports leagues, just like any other market of capitalism, work in concert with the state to ensure that participants and consumers adhere to the dominant ideology of the system. Values such as competition, racism, brute force, masculinity, American exceptionalism, and individual gain at the expense of others, ultimately override the cooperation and collective work inherent in most sporting games. When athletes stand to salute the American flag and peacefully listen to the national anthem, they unconsciously (or consciously) accept the legitimacy of the US imperialist order. This is the same imperialism that wages endless wars abroad at the expense of Black lives, impoverishes Black America and the global working class generally, and sanctions the mass incarceration and murder of Black people at the hands of the police and prison state. This is what is co-signed when one stands for the national anthem and the American flag.

Kaepernick's decision to sit during the national anthem was in part a response to the broader movement against police brutality. For the first time in a generation, a movement has emerged to fight the ongoing police occupation of Black America. Kaepernick's actions must be rooted in this context. The movement for Black lives has demanded that killer cops be held accountable for their crimes. Numerous organizations have come together to put forward demands on the state that range from universal healthcare to reparations. Black America's condition as an oppressed nation has once again been placed back into the political discourse, and this has given increased political space for athletes such as Kaepernick to join the struggle.

Of course, the continued participation of athletes such as Kaeperick in the political struggle will be dependent upon the movement's overall progression. It is the task of a conscious element of working class and oppressed people living in the US imperialist system to develop the political leadership of the mass movement. Kaepernick's visibility on the corporate athletic stage has indeed provided a service to the movement. Now we must stand with Kaepernick in order to continue to develop the movement's strength against the still powerful enemy of US imperialism.