Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick joined “prominent black Marxists” on a book project that aims to defend race-centered curriculum in American schools — and slammed capitalism in the process.
In an interview with The New Republic, Kaepernick defended his decision to partner with Marxist academics Robin D.G. Kelley and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor to edit the anthology “Our History Has Always Been Contraband: In Defense of Black Studies.” The book was born out of a battle over AP African American Studies courses, which were largely based on elements of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and included radical gender theories until the College Board revised the curriculum following pushback from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
“I’ve long admired Keeanga and Robin’s work as well as their uncompromising political analysis and understanding that Black liberation simply isn’t possible under capitalism,” the millionaire quarterback-turned-racial-activist said. “I think the anthology makes this argument quite well, and I hope it challenges readers to see that racism is not white supremacy’s only ingredient. White supremacy persists in part because of its relationship with capitalism, heteropatriarchy, ableism, and so on.”
According to Kaepernick, attacking “black studies” is “core” to the “white supremacist political project” of Republicans like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who blocked CRT-based curricula from being taught in schools.
“Black Studies and, more generally, a critical engagement with U.S. history, threatens the white supremacist status quo,” Kaepernick said.
Along with editing, Kaepernick, Kelley, and Taylor also wrote essays that made it into the anthology. Essay’s by W.E.B. Du Bois and Angela Davis condemning capitalism also appear in the book, the Daily Mail reported.
The capitalism-bashing book is available on Amazon for $52 for a hardcover and $19.95 for a paperback.
Kaepernick’s last season in the NFL came in 2016, the year he began protesting against police brutality by kneeling for the National Anthem. The 49ers had 10 losses and just one win with Kaepernick under center during the 2016 season before he was benched and ultimately cut by the team.
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The racial activist now runs a non-profit focused on “black and brown youth” and lives in a $5.4 million mansion in Las Vegas. Kaepernick said his political thinking has evolved “by reading the works of Black radical thinkers and being in conversation with Black radical organizers.”