Colin Kaepernick: In the midst of Nike's "Just Do It" outrage, the National Black Police Association launches a defense

The Fraternal Order of the National Police criticized the advertisements and suggested that the choice to present Kaepernick was an "insult" to law enforcement officials. And the National Association of Police Organizations went further, calling for a boycott of Nike while denigrating Kaepernick as a "superficial dilettante seeking to gain notoriety by disrespecting the flag for which so many Americans fought and died. "

Kaepernick, the out-of-work NFL quarterback who sparked protests from the league's national anthem, has long been the target of conservatives, and more particularly of President Trump, for his actions, which according to Mr. Kaepernick concerned the mistreatment of minorities. the hands of the police.

Sonia Y.W. Pruitt, National President of the National Association of Black Police and Maryland Police Lieutenant, watched the drama unfold this week and said she was upset by the reactions of other police organizations. She disagreed with their messages and felt that they did not fully reflect the depth of police political views across the country.

On Wednesday, for example, she wrote a letter on behalf of her organization that served as a wake-up call for Kaepernick and harsh criticisms of harsh words from other police organizations.

"On the contrary," writes Pruitt, "NBPA believes that Mr. Kaepernick's position is in direct harmony with law enforcement – the protection of a people, their human rights, their dignity, their security and their rights. as American citizens. "

"That NAPO chose this issue to position itself only perpetuates the rhetoric that the police are racist, without regard for, recognition, respect or understanding of the issues and concerns of the African-American community," he said. she writes.

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In an interview with The Washington Post, Pruitt said his organization was motivated to respond to add an alternative policing perspective into the debate.

"As black officers, we often find ourselves with other officers on the wave, but no one has asked us what our opinion was," said Pruitt. "We disagree on many of these social issues, but no one knows because the assumption is that if you are a police officer, you all think the same way."

The National Black Police Association is based in Dallas and was founded in 1972 after black police from a dozen law enforcement agencies met to discuss the issue of racial representation in the military. from police. Pruitt refused to give the membership numbers of the organization, claiming that she did not know them spontaneously, but that she counted dozens of chapters throughout the country and was the largest black police organization after the organization. national executors of the black law.

The group's statement echoes that made by 80 current and retired former NYPD officers who rallied to Kaepernick in New York last year, as well as remarks by some veterans who rebuffed the fact that the NFL protests offend military.

[‘Those kids have every right to protest’: A WWII veteran takes a knee — and a stand]

"As public servants, we should not be immune from criticism," Pruitt said. "It's a noble profession. But we must understand that we can not run away from our problems. "

She said that she was particularly opposed to NAPO's assertion that Kaepernick had not sacrificed anything, as the advertising campaign had done, given that he was not a veteran of the army or law enforcement.

"The African-American community makes a sacrifice every time that a life is unjustly lost in the hands of the very people who should protect them," Pruitt wrote in the letter. "A sacrifice is made whenever the criminal justice system makes a sacrifice every time that a letter is sent asking officers to boycott a corporation, without asking those very African-American officers who are most affected, what is their opinion.

She stated that she thought that sensitivity to police criticism resulted from a reluctance to address the topic of the race head-on.

"As black officers, we live in two worlds," she said. "On the one hand, we are police officers and on the other hand, we are members of the African-American community and we are familiar with both. That's why we can understand why Mr. Kaepernick took a knee.