Colin Kaepernick

An NFL quarterback named Colin Kaepernick decided to sit during the national anthem in a preseason game last week, while the rest of his teammates stood to honor the nation and the flag. The act has drawn both support and condemnation immediately. As a professional athlete, hearing your national anthem is routine at sporting events and is done to honor the country and the people who have served to protect it since its inception.

In a statement given to reporters after the game, he explained that he will not honor the flag in a country that oppresses black people and people of color. He went on further to say that this is bigger than football and that there are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder. He went on to say that if football and endorsements are taken away from him, he will know that he made the right decision.

I don't see a big deal with Colin not standing for the anthem, since it is not required by the league and there's no requirement by the sporting venue, nor the personnel serving the sporting event. You don't want to stand, you don't stand. As long as your teammates are alright with you doing your own thing while the rest of the team stands for the anthem and the team unity is not defined by this act, you're not hurting anyone.

But here are the reasons why this entire episode stinks of opportunism. In 2015, he lost his starting job with the San Francisco 49ers after a long string of underwhelming performances. This followed his request to be traded during the off-season. Without a resolution to the request, during the preseason friction with the management has increased and questions about his future in the NFL became a lot more pronounced. Fighting just to stay on the team, the situation did not look good.

A statement like the one he made during last week's preseason game's national anthem was sure to raise eyebrows and make any decision on Kaepernick's future by the 49ers a lot more scrutinized, if in fact the franchise were to decide to release him. By taking the civil rights stand, his place on the team became secure, at least as a backup quarterback for the time being. No franchise would take a chance at alienating a large portion of its fans by cutting a player who took a civil rights stand.

The civil rights issues he has addressed didn't just occur during this off-season. They have been front and center in every publication and social media site for the past three years. Yet he made no recorded mention in the media with this respect and did not provide anything that could be construed as a distraction to his team until his own future in football was on the line.

Well known NBA athletes like Dwayne Wade, Chris Paul, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony made more powerful and more effective civil rights statements in the same arena during this year without refusing to stand for the national anthem. Anthony stood proudly for the anthem, as it played during the Olympics in Rio, as he and team USA won the gold. But then again, these athletes didn't have to assure themselves of a roster spot.

Whoever Colin Kaepernick's Public Relations agent is, I believe they are doing a bang-up job of keeping him employed... for now.

White Privilege: Reality and Myth

The Background

Even if you only casually pay attention to the news, you have probably heard the term white privilege being used more frequently, as racial tensions have been heightened across the country due to incidents of alleged racial injustice. These racial tensions tend to drown out the underlying catalysts, the fire-starters, below a flood of public outrage that grows so strong, that it becomes nearly impossible for ordinary people to objectively distinguish fact from opinion or emotion. 

It is while I was presenting the facts of one such incident, free of opinion or emotion, that an old high school friend of mine remarked to me: "How does it feel to be bathed in White Privilege and Ignorance?"

The Definition

White privilege is a term that summarizes any and all advantages that the white population experiences above common experiences of the non-white population under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. Such advantages are unearned and are applied based on the values of the white population. Furthermore, white people may not recognize some advantages as they are passive in nature (i.e. greater social status, freedom to move, buy, work, play and speak freely). Lastly, the concept of white privilege also implies the right to assume the universality of one's own experiences, making others as different or exceptional while perceiving oneself as normal.

Racism - History and Present Day

Schools across our nation have the history of Slavery, the Ku Klax Klan, Segregation, Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, South African Apartheid, etc. as class syllabus. The racial injustice in our history is important to understand and remember in order to prevent future generations from repeating the same behavior. In historical context, minorities in any country have been discriminated against in a wide variety of ways. Historically, entire communities and countries have been responsible for atrocities and discrimination on a massive scale. 

Though gradually, through education, integration, and legislation, we have been able to overcome the mass prejudice and discrimination with time. We haven't eradicated it yet - various white supremacist groups still exist and certain parents choose to pass down racial hatred to their children. However, racism in modern day is an exception, not a blanket policy anymore. 

Erroneous Premise

The basis for white privilege is misplaced. Poor white people have more in common with poor black people, than with any upper class of their own race. Case in point - in the very same manner that an unarmed black teenager is shot, a white teenager is shot as well. Dillon Taylor was an unarmed white youth in Utah who was gunned down outside of a convenience store. 

The opposite is also true - rich and ruling elite people have more in common with each other, than with any lower economic class of their own race. Rich athletes, entertainers and politicians often get away with a warning, probation, suspended sentence or community service. Whereas any common person would serve time in jail for similar offenses regardless of race. 

What are perceived as advantages specific to the white population, are in fact advantages associated with the dominant group in a society - the rich and ruling elite. As such, the correct term should be 'Elite Privilege', not 'White Privilege'.

While that term is not as 'sexy' for getting media ratings, re-tweets, or feedback; it is the most accurate one when talking about injustice in the modern age. The correct term also does not serve the purpose it originally intended it to serve.

Purpose

The true intent of the white privilege term is to gain the sympathy of ordinary white population and join the cause against perceived injustice of minorities, regardless of facts in the given case. This method provides greater volume of support and shapes the public opinion as being overwhelmingly against perceived injustice. What is important in these cases is to evoke the sense of guilt, while focusing more on emotions, opinions, and history; rather than the facts at hand. When you focus on emotions, opinions and history; you can rationalize and justify anything to support the 'just cause'. It is the modern version of the proverbial 'race card'.

Another related common use of 'White Privilege' is the Carte Blanche justification it provides for any actions committed by a member of a minority, no matter how unlawful they may be. Anything from robbery, grand theft auto, abuse of law enforcement, to drug trafficking and beyond can simply be justified by being blamed on injustice stemming from white privilege. And because the concept nicely closes out its definition with the 'universality of one's own experiences', it states that a white person cannot possibly relate to a person that belongs to a minority, while still soliciting that white person's sympathy. 

Reality and Myth

Going back to my friend's remark to me: "How does it feel to be bathed in White Privilege and Ignorance?". That entire statement was the culmination of a passionate man's frustration who felt just in his cause, who stated his opinions, feelings and history on the matter we have discussed. In the end, they could not compete with concrete facts, so he did the only thing he could - shift the focus on me with the Myth of White Privilege. All the while, ironically, he was the one Ignorant of the Facts. 

The reality is that I am a white first generation legal immigrant from Ukraine. I had to learn the English language almost from scratch when I arrived in the United States. I worked hard in High School to earn grades good enough to get a scholarship to offset the cost of Higher Education, as I knew my parents needed to save for my younger sister's education. There were no racially advantageous scholarships categorized for my white skin color. My parents paid next to nothing for my University thanks to my academic efforts and the various jobs I undertook while attending. For the amount(s) I could not pay immediately, I took out loans. When I graduated with a Computer Science degree in 2000 (after the dot-com bust), there was no Affirmative Action initiative to get white graduates jobs right out of the gate. Instead, I worked wherever a paycheck was available for a period of time. As soon as I was able to do so, I repaid all my school loans. All the while, I never blamed anyone for the hand I was dealt and took a fair account of my standing in life. 

So to answer my friend - I have no idea, because that's a bath I never had.

Final Thoughts 

Just because some individuals of a minority group are mistreated, doesn't mean that all individuals of a majority group enjoy a 'privilege'. Why did the creators of the term White Privilege chose to focus on the alleged advantages of the white race, instead of focusing on the disadvantages of the minorities? The answer is simple - focusing on the Minority Disadvantage does not evoke a sense of guilt from the white people and it does not accuse anyone of benefiting from the alleged systematic mistreatment of minorities. The guilt-evoking aspect, coupled with alleged beneficiary of mistreatment, provide the perfect media tool to gain traction and popular support.  

Be a critical thinker and use facts, don't just follow the trend/herd. For the population at large - No matter how just it may feel, it is important to get the facts before voicing and promoting an emotional misinformed opinion. Otherwise, you may find yourself accusing a friend of yours without merit and having to support your position, while realizing that deep down inside you are wrong. 

Finally, I want each and every one of you to ask yourself just one question - Do I want to live in a world that holds each individual accountable for their actions based on facts or do I want to live in a world that holds trials of public opinion based on emotion and history, rather than the facts at hand?