The 2022 Super Bowl made headlines, not because the LA Rams pulled off a clutch victory in the last moments of the game, but because the halftime show displayed political messages. Nothing new here: the NFL has developed a reputation for protests that have attracted harsh criticism.
When Colin Kaepernick started to kneel for the national anthem, it inspired many players to do the same, and caused many on the right to respond in anger. Kaepernick had made his intentions clear from the start: the player wanted to protest many of the inequalities that people of color still face in the U.S. and the response to the kneels justified them in many ways, showing that if a black man does not stand and salute for the national anthem, there will be consequences for him.
Apart from a Nike ad and some good press, there were consequences for Kaepernick, whose promising NFL career was cut short due to the controversy. If there was ever a clear-cut sign that athletes can and should use their large platforms for activism, it was this.
Activism without an audience is not activism. What good is a message if there is no one to hear it, in other words: if a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound? Yes, but no one will know. The NFL has a distinct advantage over it that other media forms do not. The NFL offers a window into the living rooms of those who may or may not be supportive of trans and gay rights, feminism and Black Lives Matter. If these demonstrations don’t persuade fans to change their views, in part because their favorite players are expressing opinions different than theirs, it can at least show the need for these protests.
For the crowd who claims that there is no white privilege or that black people don’t face discrimination still, it is extremely hypocritical to call for the firing of successful black men that are speaking out against that same discrimination. More arrogant still, many of these critics are supporters of former president Trump. For years, Trump supporters have claimed that millionaire athletes don’t speak for the average person while defending a life-long billionaire.
Why was the Super Bowl halftime show important? Trump is no longer in office, Kaepernick has been out of the news cycle and Black Lives Matter protests have not had the same popularity they had when George Floyd was murdered. When Eminem kneeled and Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar refused to change their lyrics, which were critical of police, despite pleas from the NFL, it showed the U.S. that the athletes and those who stand alongside them have not forgotten about these issue and they are still important to them.
