Abdul-Jabbar: Criticism Of Kaepernick Portrays Him As ‘Black Grinch Who Wants To Steal White Christmas American Values’

On Thursday, Karem Abdul-Jabbar issued a philippic in which he said unsympathetic coverage of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s actions were an attempt to portray Kaepernick as “The Black Grinch who wants to steal White Christmas American values.”
Abdul-Jabbar started his diatribe by quoting a tweet that Kaepernick issued on Thanksgiving day: “Spent the morning at the Indigenous People’s Sunrise Ceremony on the 50 year anniversary of the Occupation of Alcatraz. The US government has stolen over 1.5 billion acres of land from Indigenous people. Thank you to my Indigenous family, I’m with you today and always.”
Abdul-Jabbar cited Fox News’ coverage, writing: 
Just in case that benign announcement didn’t raise the Defcon 1: Apocalypse Looming alarm in your head, Fox started the new story by editorializing the contents: “Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick had an odd way of celebrating Thanksgiving, attending an event that appeared to serve as a rebuke to the holiday and the United States.” News reports aren’t supposed to tell us it’s an “odd way” unless they already want to bias the reader. Say it ain’t so, Fox!”
The former NBA star then cited the headline in The Blaze: “Colin Kaepernick bashes America on Thanksgiving, participates in ‘Unthanksgiving Day’ celebration.”
After claiming that Kaepernick’s claims were “historical fact,” Abdul-Jabbar continued, “ … why the panicky attacks on Kaepernick? Clearly, there’s something much more insidious going on here: the sustained attempt to steal Kaepernick’s political voice by characterizing him as un-American. The Black Grinch who wants to steal White Christmas American values.”
Ignoring Kaepernick’s bizarre behavior during a tryout held for him to impress NFL teams in November, Abdul-Jabbar argued, “Kaepernick’s highly-publicized tryout last did not seem designed to seriously consider him for readmittance into the NFL. Instead, it looked like a media-savvy sham-show to make the NFL look like the good guys while destroying Kaepernick’s credibility as an athlete and therefore as a spokesman for anything, be it social justice or Nike.” 
AsThe Daily Wire reported after the much-publicized tryout went awry:
The session, according to ESPN, allowed Kaepernick an on-field workout and an interview, which would both be taped and made available to all teams. Moreover, the workout was set up to provide teams anonymity, so if they watched Kaepernick and didn’t want him, they wouldn’t catch flack. This was done to encourage more teams to attend the event, thus helping the quarterback secure a position. But that wasn’t good enough for Kaepernick.
The 32-year-old cancelled the workout abruptly on Saturday, about a half-hour before the session was supposed to begin, apparently because he wasn’t allowed to bring his own camera crew. “The workout was originally set for 3 p.m.and was to be held at the Atlanta Falcons’ practice facility in Flowery Branch,” CBS News reported. “At 2:30, representatives for the free agent quarterback informed the league that Kaepernick would instead be conducting the workout at 4 p.m. at Drew High School in Riverdale, Georgia.”
Abdul-Jabbar also used the opportunity of his op-ed to attack the Trump administration: “Efforts to silence the black community and all others who speak out for rights has only gotten worse under the Trump administration. Political and social disagreement and discourse, which are the foundations of our country, have been punished.”
In August 2018, after several members of the Philadelphia Eagles took a knee during the national anthem, Abdul-Jabbar wrote,“The daily challenge for African-Americans is getting white Americans to listen to their song, especially when it isn’t a grinning, grateful or pandering patriotic song.”
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