Kneeling with Kaep: Transracial Adoptee Colin Kaepernick Risked so Much More than an NFL Career

When Colin Kaepernick first took a knee back in 2016 to raise awareness of police brutality and injustice against the Black community, it took my breath away.  Being transracially adopted and raised in a white family, I knew firsthand that doing so was not only risking his career but also potentially risking relationships within his White families (for those that don’t know, Kap is Bi-racial so his mother of origin is also White).  Seeing another transracially adopted person Aaron Judge take a knee with his team last night during the Yankees/Nationals game, I lost my breath again and was filled with deep respect, pride, and sense of connection.  

I still have not caught my breath following one of the toughest conversations/incidents in my own family related to Kaep taking a knee.  Even with so many members of my family loving me, supporting me, and authentically committed to trying to understand what it means to have to move through the world as a Black/Bi-racial woman, my memory of the how vehemently against Kaep’s protest a couple of my family members were is still raw.  To me, their reaction was unexpected, scary, and nearly broke my heart.  It was hardcore evidence of just how different our life experiences have been even while being connected to the same family system.  Right along with all of this, there remains a deep abiding love which bonds us, connects us, and makes the realities of what we navigate individually and together even more complicated.  

Here is the thing, I talk about and help others with the complexities of developing healthy identity, building strong relationships, and navigating differences of race, culture, and class for a living and it is STILL hard for me to process some of the realities closer in.  I can only image how hard it is for those members of my family and community who almost never have to and (simply choose not to) do such things.  The fact that I steer directly into matters of racial identity and equity is a matter of survival.  I do hold empathy for those that don’t choose to and at the same time, I have to stay focused on protecting myself emotionally and psychologically so I can continue on my own journey of racial identity, enlightenment, and elevation and so I can help others that recognize they too have an incentive to do this hard and essential human work.