You might not see Colin Kaepernick’s jersey on the gridiron this year, but you may see #7 in the Smithsonian. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, who garnered more headlines from his National Anthem protest than his on-the-field play, may soon grace the halls of the Smithsonian Museum.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture, which is part of the Smithsonian Museum, was advised by Harry Edwards, a prominent sociologist at the University of California, Berkeley, to feature Kaepernick because of his vocal protests against police brutality and racial inequality.
From USA Today:
Late last year, not long after the museum opened, Edwards donated a collection of items relating to the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback and urged curators to, well, put them on exhibit, ASAP.
“I said, ‘Don’t wait 50 years to try to get some memorabilia and so forth on Kaepernick,’ ” Edwards told USA TODAY Sports. “ ‘Let me give you a game jersey, some shoes, a picture … And it should be put right there alongside Muhammad Ali. He’s this generation’s Ali.’”
“Ali created a conversation,” Edwards said. “The conversation was going on at lower frequencies, but when the world champion steps forward and says, ‘No Viet Cong ever called me a (expletive), and we have some issue we need to deal with here, not over there in a war that make no sense,’ it moved the discussion to another level.
“The same thing with Kaepernick. He sparked a national conversation about race.”
The Kaepernick items are not currently on display, but the museum’s curator of sports, Damion Thomas, told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday that he expects new material in their collection will be rotated into exhibits in one to two years.
Despite only two months until preseason camps start, Kaepernick has yet to be signed.
[USAToday]