Colin Kaepernick’s practice socks appear to disrespect the police
Colin Kaepernick’s pig-themed police socks appear to be another calculated part of his protest.
Colin Kaepernick is not currently the most popular person with American police officers, and it looks like that isn’t going to change any time soon. For at least three weeks, the 49ers quarterback has been wearing socks on the practice field that depict a pig wearing a cop’s hat. Obviously, this is a play on the derogatory term used towards those in law enforcement.
Kaepernick has been wearing these socks on the practice field as early as August 10, before his intentions to protest the national anthem were known. He’s clearly not wearing these socks ironically or because he thinks they are funny. This is just another part of his continued protest against police brutality.
“People of color have been targeted by police,” Kaepernick said. “So that’s a large part of it and they’re government officials. They are put in place by the government. So that’s something that this country has to change. There’s things we can do to hold them more accountable. Make those standards higher. You have people that practice law and are lawyers and go to school for eight years, but you can become a cop in six months and don’t have to have the same amount of training as a cosmetologist.”
The San Francisco Police Officers Association is not taking his comments lightly, and sent a strongly-worded letter to the NFL Commissioner’s office after Kaepernick made his comments.
These socks are not going to sit well with police officers across the country, especially considering the retaliatory acts of violence against law enforcement in Dallas and Baton Rouge.
This is not the first time Kaepernick has made waves with his clothing choice in the past two weeks. He also wore a shirt depicting Fidel Castro while addressing the media last week. It’s clear that he has a point to make, and is willing to draw intense scrutiny to himself despite very little job security.
Regardless of the validity of his statements and the need to fix problems with how certain police officers go about their work, law enforcement is part of the solution to many of the problems faced in America’s poorest communities. Instead of painting all police officers in a bad light, Kaepernick should be attempting to find ways to build upon the good police work done by many officers across the country.
Kaepernick will get at least one more shot this year to protest the pregame national anthem, when the 49ers play in San Diego on Thursday night. He plans to continue sitting during the anthem while members of the military are honored during a special ceremony. Suffice to say, this is not a topic that is going away any time soon.