Kaepernick on joining Marxists to edit new book: Black liberation ‘isn’t possible under capitalism’

Former NFL quarterback and social activist Colin Kaepernick says he’s working with two Black academics who describe themselves as Marxists to edit a new book because Black liberation “isn’t possible under capitalism.” 

In an interview with The New Republic published Monday, Kaepernick was asked about his work with Robin D.G. Kelley and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor on a new anthology titled Our History Has Always Been Contraband: In Defense of Black Studies.

“I’ve long admired Keeanga and Robin’s work as well as their uncompromising political analysis and understanding that Black liberation simply isn’t possible under capitalism,” Kaepernick told the New Republic.

“I think the anthology makes this argument quite well, and I hope it challenges readers to see that racism is not white supremacy’s only ingredient,” he added. “White supremacy persists in part because of its relationship with capitalism, heteropatriarchy, ableism, and so on.” 

The new anthology features essays from W.E.B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, Angela Davis, Octavia Butler, bell hooks and Huey Newton. 

Kaepernick garnered national attention in 2016 for kneeling during the national anthem at multiple NFL games to raise awareness about police brutality and racial inequality in the U.S.

He criticized Republicans for seeking to ban the teaching of critical race theory in the interview.

“Black studies and, more generally, a critical engagement with U.S. history, threatens the white supremacist status quo,” he said. “Any attempt to whitewash the past should actually be understood as a concrete step toward fascism and a desire to build a nation-state where power is concentrated in the hands of a self-anointed — read: white — few.”