Colin Kaepernick continues his activism with Netflix Series In Black and White

Written by James Quinn

It has been 5 years since famous quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick shocked the world by kneeling to the Pledge of Allegiance in protest to America’s mistreatment of African Americans. Ever since that kneel, Kaepernick has worked as an activist to bring awareness to all the injustices that black Americans face in modern society. While Colin hasn’t been able to play national football anymore, he has been adding to the great history of black protest literature. In addition to that great tradition, comes his personal bio-piece In Black and white.

In Black and White is a dramatization of Colin Kaepernick’s high school years that chronicles his early entry into football and his struggles growing up as a mixed child with white adoptive parents. With the combination of Ava Duvernay’s story-telling skills, and Colin Kaepernick’s truth orator skills the audience gets in return a loving piece on perseverance, staying true to oneself despite outside influence, and the social sanctions of racial prejudices in America.

In Black and White is a blend of narrative and historical essay that puts Colin Kaepernick’s racial and social struggles within the context of African American history. Think of the structure of Everybody Hates Chris but with Colin Kaepernick and historical accounts. Kaepernick doesn’t shy away from this history either; even in the first episode he compares the NFL’s method of picking out their best players to how white farmers would pick their best slaves for the field. Of course, every conservative and their mother threw a hissy-fit about it and ignored how little the perception of strong black men has changed; we still view strong black men through the lens of a service or commodity whether it be through labor or sports entertainment. Kaepernick uses this as a jumping off point to illustrate how knowing how the system grooms you will help you effectively oppose it.

Each episode deals with issues that turn into larger revolutions about his worldview and philosophy on the world. The first episode is about a young Kaepernick wanting to adopt cornrows for his hair and getting closer to his black culture. Unfortunately, it ends with his parents and his coaches not approving of the hairstyle as it made him look like a “thug”.

Many episodes repeat such a structure of Kaepernick learning a hard lesson about his racial identity with excellent acting from young Kaepernick himself: Jaden Michael. Not only does Michaels capture that young ambition, hunger, and athletic energy, but he also captures Kaepernick’s accent and certain speech patterns. Kaepernick’s parents are played with warm and comedic affection by Nick Offerman and Mary-Louise Parker; while at first they seem like a typical Karen and racist conservative parent duo they organically evolve into supportive parents who, while they still have their naïve views on race, still show Kaepernick the love he needs in order to succeed in sports.

In Black and White shines when it’s focus is on race and Colin’s struggle; however, some of its supporting characters such as Colin’s friends and his love interest Crystal are a bit underdeveloped. The 5th episode concerns Colin’s perceptions and views on beauty as he pursues a dark-skinned girl cheer-leader named Crystal to go to homecoming with. Many of his friends call Crystal “dark” and unattractive to Kaepernick, but despite this Colin still pursues her seriously. Ultimately it doesn’t work out; not because of the discouraging words of others, but because Colin stopped spending time with her to practice sports. The message seems to be that you shouldn’t let others persuade you away from what you think is beautiful, but what keeps Colin away from Crystal isn’t others—it’s him? The episode also doesn’t give much perspective from Crystal; we as an audience never find out what she believes about beauty and how others perceive her. It certainly doesn’t bring down the roles, but some of Colin’s supporting characters more so as props than they do full-fledged characters.

Overall In Black and White serves as a great thesis for those that didn’t understand why he chose to take a knee that fateful day on the football field. As for those that are familiar with the injustices that African Americans face in this country, this will only serve as a pleasant and heartfelt reminder of the little ways in which we are judged for our race.