Yesterday morning, Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s First Take went off on a tirade against Colin Kaepernick who either made a conscientious abstention from voting through non-participation- basically taking another knee over standing up; or he was simply lazy and disinterested. Either way, he undermines his own credibility to the political cause he came to embody. His explanation? Here you go:
Late Wednesday, Kaepernick spoke with reporters during a conference call from Arizona where the 49ers are gearing up for a game against the Cardinals, and he explained why he chose not to vote. He said that he didn’t approve of any of the candidates in the presidential race, which is why he didn’t spend much time worrying about who was going to win. He also said that he “really didn’t pay too close of attention” to the outcome of the election on Tuesday night.
“I’ve been very disconnected from the systematic oppression as a whole,” he said. “So for me, it’s another face that’s going to be the face of that system of oppression. And to me, it didn’t really matter who went in there. The system remains intact that oppresses people of color.”
As ESPN pointed out, the fact that Kaepernick didn’t vote probably shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Back in September, he was very vocal about how he didn’t think that either of the two main candidates was qualified for the job of President of the United States of America. “To me, it was embarrassing to watch that these are our two candidates,” he said following the first presidential debate. “Both are proven liars, and it almost seems like they’re trying to debate who is less racist, and at this point, I was talking to one of my friends who goes, ‘You have to pick the lesser of the two evils, but in the end, it’s still evil.'”
Stephen A. Smith answers back:
A former fetus, the “wordsmith from nantucket” was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1968. Adopted at birth, wordsmith grew up a military brat. He achieved his B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles (graduating in the top 97% of his class), where he also competed rings for the UCLA mens gymnastics team. The events of 9/11 woke him from his political slumber and malaise. Currently a personal trainer and gymnastics coach.
The wordsmith has never been to Nantucket.