Don’t look now, okay go ahead and look, but it appears that the solidarity between superstar-athletes-turned-social-justice-protest warriors might soon come to an end.
According to Bleacher Report, Knicks Star Carmelo Anthony has a plan for his activism that goes beyond the “gestures” of Colin Kaepernick:
He was courageous enough to do that. He created that. He created the kneeling and that protest. And people fell in line with that. Some people supported it. Some people didn’t. But at the end of the day, and I’m not taking nothing away from him…I just don’t think the gesturing is creating anything. I think it’s bringing awareness, but I think doing stuff and creating awareness in the communities [is more effective].
Reading this, it seems like Carmelo Anthony’s statement that he’s “not taking anything away” from Kaepernick sounds an awful lot like Rick Bobby’s “with all due respect” statement to team owner Larry Dennit Jr. Essentially, Melo confirms here the thing so obvious to so many: that Colin Kaepernick’s protests amount to mere empty gestures void of any real-world impact.
Again, that very thing we have said on this site for months. Yet, having it said by a fellow celebrity protestor has to sting. For the record, Melo’s ignorance on the issue of police shootings ranks right up there with Kaepernick. So nothing about Melo’s statement here suddenly makes him an authority, or even makes him make sense.
Although, you have to wonder how much longer Kaepernick can keep up his protest while fellow athlete protestors brazenly call him out. Unless he couples his protest with some kind of tangible action that at least pretends at cultural significance, that won’t come with ease to Kaepernick, a superficial and shallow embarrassment who actually admitted to starting his protest because of Twitter hashtags.
Kaepernick never had a plan when he started his protest. Protest was his plan. Kaepernick launched a trend, not a movement. And now even those who agree with him can see that clearly.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn
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