![Russell is right. [Image Credit: Jeffrey Beall/Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/10/26/660x290/b_502x220x82/russell-is-right-image-via-jeffrey-beallwikimedia-commons_1657083.jpg "Russell is right. [Image Credit: Jeffrey Beall/Wikimedia Commons]")
Russell Okung attended the first meeting with the NFL over the anthem protest issue, but he is not going to go to the next one. He has come out and said that he thinks the NFL is not stepping up, and I think that he should not be surprised. He was very strong in his take on the NFL because he said all he right things. He called them out for taking action on other issues while not dealing with this issue. However, he should have told the NFL that he was not surprised. He knows that this is a rampantly racist league that has to be told to interview black coaches.
This is a league that could hardly imagine the idea of a black running uarterback. This is a league where a white guy screamed the n word at a concert and got to come back, but Colin Kaepernick knelt for two and half minutes and cannot find a job.
Why should he skip the meeting?
I think that Okung should skip the meeting specifically because he knows that nothing substantive will happen. He also has said his peace, and that means that he can step back and wait for something to happen. He does not have to sit around and wait for the NFL to ge tin gear. He might actually make room for Colin Kaepernick to be heard, and that would be the right thing to do. I do not know if it will help, but I trust that Okung is doing what he believes is right.
What could come of this?
We can only hope that Colin Kaepernick is going to be able to have his voice heard when he goes tot he meeting. I think that the NFL might have to listen now that he is there, Okung has pointed out how weak they are on social justice issues, and now they have everyone watching them. Sure, there are a lot of people who are going to keep watching, but maybe it will help that the owners have been had their feet put to the fire.
The choices the NFL makes
The NFL makes choices that help them make more money. On the face of it, I believe that any business should be allowed to try to make money. The problem is that the NFL is willing to make money while people are suffering. They had to be sued to help players who had brain injuries, and they had to be forced to release information about concussions.
They had to watch someone make a movie about it because no one wouldhave known about it had the movie not been made. The league wants to force their players to stand for the national anthem, and they look like a bunch of old white men who do not like it when the colored kids playing football have a voice. Can you imagine an NFL owner saying colored? I can.
