A “What If” Scenario: What Happens If the NFL Boycotts Black People & Vice Versa

By:  Asher Primus

I recently saw a video posted by ATTN: of Angela Rye’s response to white people‘s views considering free speech and their disapproval of Kaepernick’s actions.  Kaepernick has shocked America on their racial bias and hypercritical tone in using “patriotism” as a blanket to cover our country’s imperfections.  Patriotism under the gaze of whiteness neglects my opinions on race because black people (in white people’s minds) lack morals, yet in reality we are the compass of the world, thanks to Christianity.  It is not hard to find stories of black people befriending racists and using friendship to engage in sex to ease racial tensions.

In my observations, it is harder to get black people rowdy and serious enough to want to fight white supremacy financially because it takes away from their status.  If I told black women at a mall to stop shopping at a certain store because another black woman was racially profiled, most likely their response would be sympathetic, but not enough to guilt them into boycotting and finding a black business as an alternative.

Black people have a poor track record in the era of “millennial” boycotts.  How many times do we hear “Fuck the white man’s Christmas, my Kwanzaa party is going to be lit” or “The 4th of July is for white people, America is racist anyways that’s why I only celebrate Juneteenth”?

The NFL is the hardest platform to boycott even though I have been boycotting them since forever.  In reality, I am not into sports.  I have never cared for the statistics and the players.  Heck, I never owned a copy of Madden or any football video game.  For the average black man, football will be hard to give up because sports define blackness.  It is essential and expected for black men to know something about sports.  He either has to play it or know how to analyze the plays.

Boycotting the NFL or any sports organization would challenge our alternatives in the concept of black masculinity.  This could be the moment that blerds capitalize on as blackness needs to deviate away from entertainment.  The negative effect could hit inspiring black athletes in high school and college.  Going pro is their only way out of the hood.  Granted, only a fraction of players go pro and only a fraction of them go on to become household names.

Whether or not Kaepernick is a good player, he was in the NFL which means he had the superstar lifestyle that black boys in rural and urban America dream about.

Let’s say in the realm of a monolith pro-black society that Kaepnerick does get his job, it would still feel as though there is a need to continue the boycott, even with or without his support.  Eventually, his movement will resurface without him, yet how do we like a player who works for a company that we are currently trying to dismantle?  We are trying to take away money and make them feel less important, but we forget there are other black athletes, so what makes of them?  If the boycott’s success grows stronger, the viewership will go down, so will the chances of a recruiter/scout wanting to invest in prepping black youths for the big leagues.  No more full ride scholarships.  Eventually, the pros and even college competitions will become a white sport.  Black football players will become foreign or strange as in comparison to the lost history of hockey being invented by a black man.  White people can boycott as well and replace black athletes with foreign players from Europe and Asia.

As said before, blerds could easily take advantage in the paradigm shift.  We could create a new code for black masculinity that highlights our intelligence.  We may even get the respect of our women as black boys strive to be the name of the National Spelling Bee or Nation Science Bowl.  High school football players could lose their popularity as the competitions are friendlier, lack discipline and rigorous.  Black people playing sports would only be a recreational hobby that does not lead to national fame, unless they create their own leagues.

I do not know if pro-blacks can forgive the NFL if Kaepernick got his job back.  In my personal opinion, he should not get his job back.  Wait, hear me out first.  Since the NFL is so bad and racist, then what incentive is there to work in the NFL again?  He should be able to walk away to find other opportunities, yet there is a flaw.  Black people have nothing to offer as a better alternative.  The blood, sweat and tears of our activism is free and almost worthless as even other black people question our actions.  Unfortunately, he is in a lose-lose situation that complexes the stances of careers versus personal beliefs.