“I’m not saying that the protesting players deserve to be punished. The problem is with the kneeling and sitting … that they are not — let us say — “advancing the ball,” says Stephen L. Carter, professor of law at Yale University (Star Tribune 10/20/2017).
And just what would “advancing the ball” look like? Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid solving the police brutality problem all by themselves? Good grief! America has put bizarre and unrealistic expectations on Kaepernick’s shoulders.
What Carter does not understand is that when he writes a 2,000-word editorial with a large photo of Kaepernick and Reid taking a knee in Santa Clara, it will appear in a major newspaper. Carter has been duped and he has been schooled.
When the spotlight is kept on Kaepernick he has “advanced the ball” a thousand yards and proves how effective his past protest has been.
And that photo taken by Marcio José Sanchez of Kaepernick is one of the most powerful photos I have ever seen.
Frank Erickson lives in Minneapolis
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