Colin Kaepernick, the NFL quarterback-turned-activist who helped start the anthem protest trend, has a new Netflix series called “Colin in Black & White,” which follows his transformation into an activist.
At one point in the series, Kaepernick insists that beloved black sitcom characters like Steve Urkel from “Family Matters” and Carlton Banks from “The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air” are actually a sign of racism.
“Over the years, there have been some very popular TV shows starring black people,” Kaepernick says in the series. “These shows share archetypal black characters, including social outcasts who assimilate or conform, like Carlton Banks or Steve Urkel. White people love these dudes. Everything from the way they dress, the way they talk, even the way they dance. It’s all so [non]threatening.”
“These characters have come to be known by the term ‘acceptable negro,’” Kaepernick added. “The acceptable negro is a black character who inhabits white characteristics, who makes white people feel comfortable. The acceptable negro is a white man’s creation.”
But as the Washington Examiner noted, the character of Carlton Banks was beloved by “the nonwhite television creators who put him on the screen.”
“That includes Benny Medina, who originally came up with the idea for the show, and legendary producer Quincy Jones,” the outlet wrote.
As the Examiner pointed out, there was an episode of “Fresh Prince” that aired in 1993 where Banks is called a “sellout” because he acts too “White.” From the Examiner:
Perhaps even more ironic is that there was an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air that tackled the very same bigotry about Carlton Banks that Kaepernick is displaying today. It happened all the way back in 1993. In “Blood is Thicker than Mud ,” Smith and Banks are pledging to a fraternity. The fraternity leader likes Smith but thinks Banks acts too “white.” He refers to Carlton as a sellout. One of the most exemplary dialogues of the entire series occurs when Carlton confronts the fraternity leader.
“You think I’m a sellout. Why, because I live in a big house or I dress a certain way?” Banks says. “Being black isn’t what I’m trying to be, it’s what I am. I’m running the same race and jumping the same hurdles you are, so why are you tripping me up? You said we need to stick together, but you don’t even know what that means. If you ask me, you’re the real sellout.”
This was said in 1993, but Kaepernick really needs to hear it in 2021.
This was the second time in a week that Kaepernick has been called out for his activism. On Monday, former NFL player Jack Brewer said Kaepernick’s message was damaging to young black men in America.
“This new Colin Kaepernick doctrine that’s penetrating the minds and hearts of so many of our underserved black kids across America is the single largest threat to black men in the United States of America,” Brewer told Fox News. “Because right now, folks are thinking that they’re victims, and they’re living in the most prosperous, the most opportunity, in any country in the world. And so this one hurts me, because every day I get up, and I go out and try to help young African American boys become men, and try to instill those values. And when you have someone like this, who has the audacity to call multi-millionaires ‘slaves’ and compare a process of someone living their dream, going to the National Football League, comparing that to slavery, it’s gone over overboard.”
“And I think Colin Kaepernick needs to do some soul searching, you just watched that video, you see how dark it is, and to take the most fragmented, the most vulnerable population we have in America, where we have kids that 70% of them don’t have fathers, most, a lot of them can’t, their reading and math proficiency levels rate against third world countries,” he added. “You have kids that are already hopeless and then you go out and push this mentality and you’re supposed to be someone that’s a leader. Think about the movement that this guy started, the opportunity that he has, that he could actually come in and promote positivity to young black and African American men and tell him how great this country is. He doesn’t have that spirit, and he has an evil anti-American spirit, it is sick and disgusting to think that.”