Spike Lee: Kaepernick Like Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson

"It’s in that tradition."

8.30.2016

Always on hand to deliver his incoherent racial platitudes, filmmaker Spike Lee – the one who previously said he wanted to "shoot whites" in South Africa – announced that 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick now stands in the same tradition as Jackie Robinson and Muhammad Ali by refusing to stand for the national anthem.

Speaking with Anderson Cooper on Monday, Spike Lee immediately compared Kaepernick to the two sports icons, neglecting the fact that both Robinson and Ali experienced actual racism at the hands of government. Kaepernick, on the other hand, was raised by two white parents, entered the NFL virtually unopposed, and now dances to the tune of $114 million.

"It’s in that tradition of black athletes standing up, saying I’m not using their platform saying I’m not happy with the way black people, people of color are being treated," said Lee. "The biggest revision story ever – Muhammad Ali at one time was the most hated person, people need to Google, do research. Muhammad Ali was the most hated person in America."

Addressing the question as to how Kaepernick could be complaining when he makes so much money, Lee went on characterize him as a martyr making the good sacrifice by refusing to dance upon the stage of his white overlords.

They always bring up oh, 'You’re making a lot of money,' so the reason, because you make money, that means that you can’t have a moral foundation and speak — like here’s the thing. Black athletes, we pay you money, play ball, shut up, don’t say nothing, we’re giving you money, million dollars, just to go out there, run up and down the gridiron, run up and down the court and just be quiet and play.

Someone has the courage to step out knowing they could lose all that, why you going to jump on the brother?

When Anderson Cooper brought up Jackie Robinson, Spike Lee echoed his "tradition" claims. However, not once was Spike Lee ever able to equate Kaepernick's experience with that of Robinson, the first black man allowed into Major League Baseball. There's a world of difference between the two. Jackie Robinson refusing to stand for the national anthem at a time when black people couldn't even vote makes a bit more sense than Colin Kaepernick refusing in an era of Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin.