Zerlina Maxwell Defends Kaepernick’s Comparison of the NFL Combine to Slavery: They Are Auctioned off to the White Owners

TRANSCRIPT:

MAXWELL: "The NFL is the league made up of mostly black players, but run by an almost entirely white group of team owners. We talk a lot on this show about how the league has struggled to balance that dynamic, particularly in the face of last year’s racial justice protests and reckoning. But it’s also hard to ignore some of the images that come to mind when thinking about the way the league functions. Every year, a mostly black or group of players are valued based on their physical ability, they’re told to run, jump, tackle, all to demonstrate their strength. Then, one by one, they are literally auctioned off to one of the mostly white team owners. I'm not saying that the league is inherently racist, but it does have a power dynamic that intersects with race and is absolutely worthy of scrutiny. Over the weekend. Colin Kaepernick, a man who knows all too well about that dynamic did just that. The first episode of his new Netflix limited series 'Colin in Black and White' makes a comparison that many of us notice, but few of us have ever really said out loud."