Helping With The Financial Burden of Protest.

Financial retaliation is an often-used technique for suppressing and stifling Black dissent. For some, protesting police brutality or other issues affecting Black civil rights has cost them their jobs – a financial loss. These people risked their careers and suffered financial punishment. Comparatively, it’s easy and safe to sign petitions. The result is an unfair spreading of the risks and financial punishments on issues that effect us all.[1].
For example, it appears Colin Kaepernick and Demontre Moore suffered financial punishment as a result of their police brutality protests. Although the team owners deny this claim one cannot ignore the shadiness of the timing – it’s funny when they no longer have patience with the players…Regardless the point regarding financial punishment remains the same, and I use this as an example.
Kaepernick is still a free agent and Moore was fired from the Cowboys. Kaepernick recently received praise from certain organizations. While petitions and praise are good, he still is not signed to a team. Thus the injury of financial punishment has not been corrected. These men are still experiencing the punishment and any consequential damages for their expressions supporting equality. I do not know exactly why these men did what they did. I’ve never met them, so I can’t speak for them. But I believe they had every right to protest. Take Kaepernick , who was playing in San Francisco where the Black population is significantly decreasing due to urban displacement and is now approximately 5.6% which is far below the national average of 13%.[2] This urban displacement helped fuel police brutality.[3] One can completely understand the desire to speak out about racial inequities in this context.
As we finish the holidays and the sports game binging and wait for the bowl games, think about putting your money where your mouth is. If the team owners financially punish players for speech protesting racial inequities, then Blacks should stop watching the games and stop buying the merchandise. That would make the risks for protesting a little more fair, show real support for the players’ career risks, show understanding for the level of risk they are taking and maybe help prevent future financial retaliation from the owners. Such action, if required with the team owners or others, would show Blacks are tired of financial retaliation. This same response can be used in other situations.

[1] Some student athletes were punished for their expressions of protest as well. These students too risked a lot and paid a heavy price. They too should not have been punished for protesting injustice. There has been an attempt to stop Blacks of all ages from protesting in this manner.

[2] According to the 2016 US Census estimates, San Francisco’s Black population is approximately 5.6% [the National average is 13.3%; California’s average is 6%; Los Angeles county’s average is 9.4%]. Between 2010 and 2000, 11,654 Blacks left San Francisco County which decreased the Black population by 19.24%. San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in the United States. United States, Census Bureau, “Quick Facts, San Francisco County”, Washington DC: Department of Commerce, last accessed September 28, 2017, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/sanfranciscocountycalifornia/AGE115210. This means one of the largest cities in the nation has relocated Blacks from the urban core. See also “San Francisco’s Black Population Dwindling”, The Seattle Times, May 11, 2015, http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/san-franciscos-black-population-dwindling/; Nadre Nittle, “Will San Francisco’s Black Population Vanish as City’s Wealth Rises?”, Atlanta Black Star, October 13, 2015, http://atlantablackstar.com/2015/10/13/will-san-franciscos-black-population-vanish-citys-wealth-rises/; Thomas Fuller, “The Loneliness of Being Black in San Francisco”, New York Times, July 20, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/us/black-exodus-from-san-francisco.html.

[3]Steven Rosenfeld, “Is Gentrification Fueling Police Brutality in San Francisco?”, AlterNet, May 15, 2015, http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/gentrification-fueling-police-brutality-san-francisco.