Colin Kaepernick is the Hero We’ve Got

“The prudent see only the difficulties, the bold only the advantages, of a great enterprise; the hero sees both; diminishes the former and makes the latter preponderate, and so conquers.” ­– Johann Kaspar Lavater

Like many writers, I’ve spent the last few weeks of 2018 thinking about the work I produced during the year. The pieces I struggled with the most are the ones I’m the proudest of. There is one piece in particular, however, that persecuted me as I wrote it. It persecutes me still. Not a day goes by that I don’t wonder if I should delete it. The reason: I made Colin Kaepernick look bad. Actually, Kaepernick and people close to him made him look bad, and I wrote about it. The piece came as a surprise to me. It came as a surprise to my readers. My support for Kaepernick has been unwavering ever since he sat then kneeled during the national anthem to protest racialized police violence. My support for his causes remains unbended. Is that the same as my support for the man? Is it possible to separate the two? Resolving these questions has become an ongoing struggle for me.

I’ve followed Kaepernick and the saga around him closely ever since he began his protest. I think many of us knew before he did how harsh his punishment would be. His surprise at being tossed out of his profession, the searing pain of it was difficult to watch even from a distance…