Today’s Black Spotlight hero is Trevor Noah.

I see a decidedly liberal tilt to these choices. Like PP said, not a single Colin Powell or Boyd Rutherford in the bunch.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kaepernick is a person who risked, and probably lost, a great career in order to stand on his principles. That is a great lesson and ethical discussion for young people to have. Recognizing this is not a judgment or approval of his moral character, it is simply stating facts.

Prior to kneeling, Kaepernick was not a particularly marketable athlete. Post-protest, he landed a "star" level contract with Nike that puts him in the top tier of NFL earners in terms of endorsement money. So while what you say is somewhat true, it's not like he really sacrificed himself economically.

I don't think that's fair. I think that he took a risk to stand (read: kneel) for his principles. It ended up working out well for him economically. That was not a foregone conclusion. It is particularly cynical to imply that CK did what he did to get endorsement money.

I'm not cynically saying that he did it to get endorsements. However, it's also true that there's some myth making going on here.

In reality, the main reason Kaepernick has been out of the league for 3 years is that in his last two seasons, he was 3-16 as a starting quarterback.

He didn't just decide to kneel in protest when this all started. Actually, he just started to stay seated on the bench during the anthem. Not really much different than what Marshawn Lynch started doing, and his career continued just fine. It was only after talking to Nate Boyer that he started kneeling. And the reaction from his team and coach was support. At the end of the season, Kaepernick is the one who opted out of his contract. Nobody cut him.

With his style of play, you need to change your whole offensive scheme if he's your quarterback, so it's not surprising that there hasn't been that much interest in him. He's simply not good enough to worry about, especially considering how much money he keeps insisting on to play. There are also only a handful of teams that run an offense where he's be a viable backup (though there are a few more now than there were in 2017 and 2018).

Note that I support his protest, as well as Eric Reid's. However, saying that he's made some huge sacrifice is disrespectful to the civil rights activists throughout history who really have sacrificed everything. Frankly, there are several AA athletes who do much more for civil rights activism and BLM than Colin.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kaepernick is a person who risked, and probably lost, a great career in order to stand on his principles. That is a great lesson and ethical discussion for young people to have. Recognizing this is not a judgment or approval of his moral character, it is simply stating facts.

Prior to kneeling, Kaepernick was not a particularly marketable athlete. Post-protest, he landed a "star" level contract with Nike that puts him in the top tier of NFL earners in terms of endorsement money. So while what you say is somewhat true, it's not like he really sacrificed himself economically.

I don't think that's fair. I think that he took a risk to stand (read: kneel) for his principles. It ended up working out well for him economically. That was not a foregone conclusion. It is particularly cynical to imply that CK did what he did to get endorsement money.

Anonymous wrote:Kaepernick is a person who risked, and probably lost, a great career in order to stand on his principles. That is a great lesson and ethical discussion for young people to have. Recognizing this is not a judgment or approval of his moral character, it is simply stating facts.

Prior to kneeling, Kaepernick was not a particularly marketable athlete. Post-protest, he landed a "star" level contract with Nike that puts him in the top tier of NFL earners in terms of endorsement money. So while what you say is somewhat true, it's not like he really sacrificed himself economically.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. He is a civil rights activist in my mind and he stands for the constitutional rights of every American. His significance is huge for every person. His contribution and significance is larger than that of just a Black professional athlete. Like MLK was more than a Black pastor.

- Asian-American mom.

You cannot possibly be comparing Colin Kaepernick to MLK.

Don't be an idiot. Of course she's not comparing the two of them. She's just making a point...and I agree with her.

- African American Man.

White lady here: I think it's great.

Kaepernick is a person who risked, and probably lost, a great career in order to stand on his principles. That is a great lesson and ethical discussion for young people to have. Recognizing this is not a judgment or approval of his moral character, it is simply stating facts. George Washington gets a whole holiday, and he owned people.

Kaepernick fights for the AA community by refusing to vote in elections and telling them not to bother. On behalf of the MAGA movement, we thank him for all he's doing to make sure that AAs stay home on election day. He's an American hero!

Anonymous wrote:He compared cops to "runaway slave patrols."

Not exactly inspiring to most Americans.

There are tons of inspirational black Americans, but Kaepernick is not one of them.

No, that's incorrect.

There are tons of inspirational black Americans, AND Kaepernick is one of them.

I mean that literally, by the way. He inspired people to do things.

Anonymous wrote:Our MCPS MS highlights a person every day for Black History Month. For the most part, they tend to not focus on athletes -- Jordan Peele, Michelle Obama have been prior spotlights. Today's choice was Colin Kaepernick, along with this blurb:

"Colin Kaepernick played quarterback for the SF 49ers for six seasons. He is now a free agent in the NFL. In 2016, he took a knee during the national anthem to protest racism and police brutality. His actions also made other NFL players do the same. Kaepernick now advocates for ohers. He's donated more than $1 million to community groups, and has his "Know Your Rights Camp", an advocate group for self empowerment for people of color. He has also created Kaepernick Publishing, partnering with Audible to create opportunities for black and brown writers, authors and creators to control their narratives and retain ownership of their work."

Whether you support Kaepernick or not, would you support him as a choice for Black History Month spotlight? Seems like a peculiar choice, when there are so many other options.

LOVE IT!

Anonymous wrote:He compared cops to "runaway slave patrols."

Not exactly inspiring to most Americans.

There are tons of inspirational black Americans, but Kaepernick is not one of them.

Well, US police brutality against Blacks is very tangible and self-evident to the entire world. Are we actually debating this? Trump's racist dog whistle is not a silent one, it is the loud music of the pied piper. The rest of us can hear it and be dismayed but cannot prevent his minions from following.

- Not Black.

Anonymous wrote:He compared cops to "runaway slave patrols."

Not exactly inspiring to most Americans.

There are tons of inspirational black Americans, but Kaepernick is not one of them.

He is comparing unnecessary police brutality towards AA as "runaway slave patrols". Please remember that police also includes Black cops. I think it is inspirational to most people who are not racists. It should be uncomfortable to racists though.

Kaepernick is a very inspirational American. He happens to be Black.

- Immigrant.

Anonymous wrote:He compared cops to "runaway slave patrols."

Not exactly inspiring to most Americans.

There are tons of inspirational black Americans, but Kaepernick is not one of them.

I have to agree.

I'm sick of people idolizing sports figures and actors. Plus, Kaepernick was sort of a has been at one point before he tried to reinvent himself. I think he's an opportunist.

Why not Ta-Nehisi Coates?

or Mary Jackson? She's older but she paved the way for AA females in scientific fields.

What about Colin Powell? too Republican???

Tarana Burke? the real face behind #metoo

Stacey Abrams?

I did some research on lesser known figures - Arlan Hamilton. Look her up. impressive

Anonymous wrote:He compared cops to "runaway slave patrols."

Not exactly inspiring to most Americans.

There are tons of inspirational black Americans, but Kaepernick is not one of them.

=> some Americans, I would say. Students will learn both sides of the spectrum and it's a good thing.

He compared cops to "runaway slave patrols."

Not exactly inspiring to most Americans.

There are tons of inspirational black Americans, but Kaepernick is not one of them.

Yes. While the kids need to know history they also need something tangible and recent.


-Afro Latina mom & teacher.