Kennedy Jones
Staff Writer
NFL player Colin Kaepernick is in the news once again after deciding not to vote in the presidential election. This is not the first time that the 49ers quarterback has caused controversy. Just a few months ago Kaepernick caused an up-roar after refusing to stand for the national anthem.
He explained his decision to no longer stand by stating, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” He also added that he will continue to protest until he see’s significant progress.
Kaepernick’s actions sparked a national debate on if his decision to not stand was disrespectful or justified. Since then, several athletes have followed in Kaepernick’s footsteps by not standing and several other athletes have spoken out in distaste of his protest.
Fast forward to now, Kaepernick’s decision to not vote in one of America’s most important presidential elections has left many people angry and calling him a hypocrite.
ESPN “First Take” host Stephen A. Smith was very vocal in his opinion, calling Kaepernick a “flaming hypocrite”.
“As far as I’m concerned, Colin Kaepernick is absolutely irrelevant. I don’t want to see him again; I don’t want to hear from him again, I don’t want to hear a [expletive] word about anything he has to say about our nation. He comes across as a flaming hypocrite. For him not to vote, as far as I’m concerned, everything he said meant absolutely nothing,” said Smith in the televised commentary.
Azaria Edwards, a junior dual chemistry and biology major from Jackson, Miss. believes that Kaepernick is not as passionate about change as he says.
“Him choosing not to vote during the 2016 presidential election shows that he can’t be too passionate about change as it pertains to the oppression of people of color if he doesn’t want to be a part of the possibility of change that comes with electing a new president,” said Edwards. “Sure he still has freedom of speech and other ways to attempt to apply change, but not voting at all wasn’t a wise decision.”
Nigel Davenport, a senior dual theatre and psychology major from Vicksburg, Miss. is on the fence about the subject.
“I’m a bit on the fence about this because I get what he’s saying when he says his vote doesn’t matter. Hillary won the popular vote but we still went by the Electoral College vote which means that’s how Trump won the election. But at the same time if we are about change we have to be proactive and still go out there and vote,” said Davenport.
After receiving major backlash, Kaepernick finally spoke out at a post-game press conference. While most people felt that it was hypocritical of him to not vote, Kaepernick told reporters he felt that it would have been hypocritical of him if he did go out and vote.
“You know, I think it would be hypocritical of me to vote,” he said. “I said from the beginning I was against oppression; I was against the system of oppression. I’m not going to show support for that system. And to me, the oppressor isn’t going to allow you to vote your way out of oppression,” he said in the interview.
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