I Am Restored by Lecrae Moore

Author:Lecrae Moore
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2020-08-21T00:00:00+00:00

I remember following ESPN when they broke the news that Colin Kaepernick, a former Super Bowl quarterback, was caught sitting on his team’s sideline during the national anthem before the game kicked off. The initial reaction was confusion, but after the game was over he provided clarity.

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color. . . . To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”1 Kaepernick would face consequences for his actions, but for those few minutes everything stopped. There is nothing more empowering than seeing a Black man like me being free in front of the whole world.

I was completely in awe of how bold he was, in the same way that I’m surprised when kids try their parents in public. I thought, Is he . . . allowed to say that? Kaepernick was a star athlete in one of sport’s most popular positions, quarterback of an NFL team, putting everything he had worked for on the line. He was fierce and unrelenting. He would quote civil rights leaders before him with fists raised above his afro.

After Kaepernick sat during the anthem at his next few games, he switched his protest to taking a knee at the advice of a fellow military member and former player. The kneel was now the universal symbol of protest of an unjust system. It was a rallying cry for men and women of color who could say something, anything, about the oppression that we face on a daily basis.

“He’s disrespecting the flag! He’s spitting in the face of the military! My son died for this country, and he’s disrespecting his memory,” some complained. Considering the way people responded when I said, “Black lives matter,” I could expect the hatred. Just like activist athletes who came before him, Kaepernick stepped into a hornet’s nest, and the public’s resentment jumped out to meet him. Every single post I made that even referred to him was overtaken with ignorant comments and vitriol, simply for referencing the situation. At one point I was fed up and tweeted, “Take a knee, people riot. Take a bullet, people quiet.”

Society’s inability to understand Kaepernick’s argument was the most frustrating part of the public debate. Why did they believe Black people have hatred for the military? What would we gain from that? I went to Kuwait and other places overseas, performing for military service members and bringing hope. Just like many other Black families in our country, some of my family members fought and died for the freedoms we enjoy. Why would I be disrespecting their contributions to my freedom?

Eventually valuable time and energy are wasted on these discussions. Rather than addressing the true object of Kaepernick’s protest, oppression of Blacks in America, advocates feel forced into explaining what we mean when we say every phrase.

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