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This is why Colin Kaepernick took a knee.

Two knees. One protesting in the grass, one pressing on the back of a man’s neck. Choose. You have to choose which knee you will defend. There are no half choices; there is no room for indifference. There is only the knee of protest or the knee on the neck.

NFL owners chose the knee on the neck. They did.

Colin Kaepernick’s real offense was to open the box and hold up what is in front of the audience, instead of the triumphalist, self-congratulatory image the NFL wanted. The league owners had a chance, with Kaepernick, to be more than hucksters guarding their brands and bottom line. They might have been tremendous influencers on the problem of injustice in this burning moment. They might have been real allies of — and advocates for — their great players. They might have been examples of true, righteous Americanism. They might have been bonders rather than dividers, healers of mistrust. But who would ever buy that now? They missed their chance. They chose the wrong knee. It was a terrible choice. One that may even make you weep.

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