7 Social Justice and Feminism Chapter 1
In the television series Colin in Black & White (2021), the representation of Colin Kaepernick as a racialized athlete activist provides a compelling analysis of how sports figures navigate resistance and activism. The show, co-created by Kaepernick himself, blends dramatized accounts of his youth with direct commentary on systemic racism, drawing attention to the ways in which Black athletes must negotiate their racial identities within predominantly white sports institutions.
Kaepernick employs multiple strategies to speak out against racial injustice, most notably his decision to kneel during the national anthem as an act of protest against police brutality. The show contextualizes this moment by illustrating how he was subjected to scrutiny and exclusion throughout his athletic career, reinforcing the idea that activism is often met with institutional backlash. His advocacy extends beyond protest; he uses media platforms, interviews, and social movements to amplify his message. However, as Cooky and Antunovic (2020) highlight, athlete activism is often framed in ways that depoliticize its radical critiques. In the case of Colin in Black & White, the show resists this narrative by positioning Kaepernick’s activism within a historical lineage of Black resistance in sports, challenging the notion that athletes should remain apolitical.
The series critiques the ways in which race and power intersect in sports, portraying how Kaepernick’s Blackness was scrutinized in ways that his white counterparts did not experience. This aligns with Cooky and Antunovic’s argument that media narratives often minimize structural critiques in favor of personalizing activism. By centering his experience, the show reframes sports as a site of racialized power struggles rather than a neutral arena. Ultimately, Colin in Black & White demonstrates how representations of athlete activism shape public understandings of both sports and resistance, revealing the stakes of speaking out within a system that seeks to silence dissenting voices.
