Colin Kaepernick donates $25,000 to immigrant youth at risk by DACA repeal
Colin Kaepernick knelt silently, clearly explained his protests on behalf of vulnerable people, and promised to donate more than $1 million to “organizations working in oppressed communities.” Continuing his tradition of putting his money where his mouth is, Kaepernick donated $25,000 to assist young immigrants affected by President Donald Trump’s order to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
The 29-year-old’s latest donation is another effort to help young people of color in a racially and ethnically fraught national climate.
Under President Barack Obama’s leadership, DACA protected nearly 800,000 immigrants whose arrivals were not authorized by extending their stay in the U.S. The policy was a common sense response to addressing the concerns of immigrants who came here as children. These were young people who, as a result of their passage into the U.S., had no meaningful choice in the matter of their citizenship, and often felt or knew no connection with their country of origin.
Conversely, on the campaign trail, Trump presented multi-national immigration issues as racist community safety and national security concerns. He inhumanely portrayed Mexican people (as “bad hombres”) and negatively racialized Muslims. He could not discuss Black people or communities without painting plight-filled portraits. All of this matters because immigration policy is largely shaped by desires to keep Black and Brown people out of the United States, or have them deported as America grows less white and less Christian.
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Given these challenges, Kaepernick’s financial support and publicity for socially-conscious causes are inspirational. The financial resources he provides make tangible support possible to people facing uphill battles. The millennial athlete also donated $50,000 to Meals on Wheels, gave suits to a New York parole office and $25,000 to a Southside Chicago organization, among other progressive organizations.
And, as folks say, no good deed goes unpunished. Kaepernick persists despite wayward haters. Former Milwaukee County Sheriff and current avid Trump supporter David A. Clarke popped up with Twitter fingers like a salty, contrarian uncle.
“When I see Kaepernick in the hood mentoring young black males on making better lifestyle choices then I will know his sincerity,” Clarke wrote. “Opportunist.”
Clarke’s perspective presupposes that Kaepernick prioritized Clarke’s approval over making himself and his capital available to people in need. Nothing about the free agent quarterback’s consistent support of people whose issues he gives voice to conveys a desire to appease racial apologists or respectable Negros.
In actuality, there is no telling exactly how many young people of color, in ‘hoods and otherwise, benefited from Kaepernick’s civil disobedience, talking points, financial resources and community organizing. Only time will tell how his work continues to help Black communities at-large.