The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) is not fighting hard enough for social justice and is failing Colin Kaepernick yet again. But college football players are woke on America's racism. That's the latest complaint by Carron J. Phillips, who makes a living from race grievances as the sports, race and social issues columnist for the New York Daily News.
Despite his bitter disappointment in the players' union, Phillips is inspired by a highly inflammatory and anti-American poem posted on Twitter by University of Texas wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey. The way he writes about modern day America, one would think it's the 18th century and the slave trade is active here.
Phillips introduces the Humphrey poem by first denouncing the NFLPA, led incidentally by an African-American, DeMaurice Smith, for seeking a diplomatic solution to its opposition to the policy requiring players to stand for the national anthem:
"Last week, while a group of grown men decided that they would rather have 'confidential discussions' with a league that’s repeatedly disrespected them instead of 'immediately proceeding with litigation,' a college student in Texas was penning a letter to America that was directly addressing the issues that are at the heart of the national anthem debate."
Here's the poem Humphrey posted on Twitter that so impressed Phillips:
"America, America, the land of the free
Where black people can die from just being black and free
They protest to be able to live life in peace like the majority
Thugs and animalistic people is all you see
In reality, all they really want in life is equality
Instead, America which is the land of the free
Elects a president with zero political history
To restore the long legacy of white supremacy
Minorities were never a part of the American dream
They were only brought here to build your dream
I used to believe in this American dream
Dream that one I would be playing in front of thousand, on a college team
I have achieved that dream
And believe that, it was only a scheme
For you to continue to exploit black men
To continue to view them as animals, Then
Have the nerve to say 'Make America Great Again
It was only great for white men
You on the other hand just want free labor again
So, you can continue to try to find new and creative ways to enslave black men"
Phillips says the timing of Humphrey’s poem is especially pertinent because Colin Kaepernick has gone 500 days without an NFL (entitlement) contract. He wants legal action against the NFL's "respect the anthem" policy. And he writes the union that was supposed to protect Kaepernick is dragging its feet by privately discussing anthem behavior with the league and "again failing him."
"Mind you, the NFL has already paid off the Player’s Coalition with hush money," Phillips writes, "and implemented the new anthem policy behind their backs, without possibly having a majority vote from all team owners. The NFLPA keeps bringing a knife to a gun fight." (Note: the owners voted 32-0 in support of the new anthem policy in May).
Humphrey, not the union, is woke, Phillips says, because he sees the white supremacy and the exploitation of black athletes. And he's not the only woke college athlete. While attending the Ohio State football camp, prep superstar Tyreke Smith (in photograph above) wore a woke t-shirt reading: "I hope I don't get KILLED for being Black today." Smith was so opposed to the college exploitation of black athletes that he accepted a scholarship offer from the Buckeyes! Phillips skipped right over that hypocrisy:
"In an era in which athletes are using their platforms to speak out like never before, we have an example of a college kid calling out things for what they are, while millionaires in the NFL would rather have back-room meetings with representatives from a league that continues to oppress them and regulate their rights as American citizens.
Maybe the pro's are trying to be part of a solution, while college kids and newspaper race writers are more interested in manufacturing crises and less interested in solutions.
