“Real Men Stand for Our Nation”: Constructions of an American Nation and Anti-Kaepernick Memes

Abstract

On September 1, 2016, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeled for the playing of the national anthem arguing that he was “not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” noting that “this is bigger than football and it would be selfish . . . to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.” Kaepernick received a tremendous amount of backlash for this action, and many White fans/media pundits accused him of disrespecting the flag and U.S. military. This act took place during the very contentious presidential election in the United States between eventual winner Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. During this election, the Trump campaign mobilized discourses of White nationalism, and even employed alt-right member Steve Bannon as Trump’s chief advisor for a period. The Trump campaign capitalized on a set of White backlash politics that had been growing since the 1990s, and the reactions to Kaepernick’s protest cannot be separated from this larger context. In this article, we critically read internet memes of Colin Kaepernick to gain insight into the relationship between race, gender, and the nation during the rise of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency.

‘Black Lives Matter:’ sport, race and ethnicity in challenging times

“…They are also not entirely new, and protests against racial inequality have been occurring in sport for some time. See, for example, the actions and politics of sports figures such as Colin Kaepernick and Megan Rapinoe, both under the spotlight in the mass-media for years prior to George Floyd's murder (Dickerson & Hodler, 2020;Hylton, 2020). Yet the pandemic and overt demonstrations of police and state force have served to further magnify racial inequality and place it at the centre of public dialogue thus giving more traction to key messages associated with BLM.…”

Examining Predictors of Latinx Adults’ Attitudes Toward Different Forms of US National Anthem Protests Against Police Brutality and Racial Injustice

“…Additionally, they also violate a social/cultural expectation to keep their politics "private" or out of the stadium and stick to playing/entertaining/ doing their jobs-that is, the "shut up and dribble" expectation (Peterson, 2009). In the minds of many Americans, sport is supposed to be a politicsfree area or domain where people of all races and/or ethnicities can all get along and forget, at least for some time, the injustices that affect their lives (Dickerson & Hodler, 2020). Indeed, according to Peterson (2009), "an unwritten rule or norm in sports that its participants leave their politics and social activism at the arena or stadium gate" (p. 101).…”

“…This is certainly true of Colin Kaepernick and the activists or ordinary people that have been taking part in the NA protests. Indeed, by kneeling, standing with a raised fist, or sitting during the playing of the NA, protesters violate the conventional posture that is socially expected for that ritual (Dickerson & Hodler, 2020; J. A. Smith & Keltner, 2017).…”

Does Protest “Distract” Athletes From Performing? Evidence From the National Anthem Demonstrations in the National Football League

“…Reid knelt with Kaepernick for the subsequent regular season games, and other NFL players from across the league also engaged in forms of protest during the national anthem as the season progressed; sometimes they knelt like Kaepernick and Reid, but more often they made other symbolic gestures such as raising a fist or linking arms. Throughout, the protests were controversial and provoked no small degree of opposition and backlash (Dickerson & Hodler, 2020) At the start of the 2017 season, Colin Kaepernick was no longer employed in the NFL, but the protests he had inspired continued. The suspected "blackballing" of Kaepernick from the league (addressed again at the end of the paper) likely further ignited the players' desire to support him and his cause, while the NFL's failure to prohibit or punish protesting players spurred on the fan backlash and calls for boycotting the league.…”

“…This work has contributed not only to our understanding of sport in society, it has expanded our understanding of social movement organizing and the role of media/communications in a new era of both professionalization and polarization. However, with some notable exceptions (Cunningham & Gill, 2016;Dickerson & Hodler, 2020;Johnson, et al, 2020; see also: Kaufman, 2008), scholars so far have paid less attention to the strong opposition and backlash activism in and around sport typically generates in the athletic establishment, among sportswriters and commentators, and among the American public in general.…”