Banana and Kneeling Protests

Colin Kaepernick, an NFL quarterback who formerly played for the San Francisco 49ers, is famous for his touchdown celebration where he kisses his own bicep. This act, which was named "Kaepernicking" after his name, is so famous that it got former First Lady Michelle Obama to strike that signature pose of his.

Unfortunately, it seems like you will not be seeing that pose for some time because Kaepernick, a free agent, has not signed yet with any teams. Colin, half-black, half-white, has been maligned from both whites and blacks for refusing to stand and instead kneeling during the national anthem, saying, "I won't stand for the national anthem of the country where people of color are discriminated against." Some say teams will not sign him in order to avoid controversy. This issue has made headlines once again when President Donald Trump blasted NFL players on Sunday for kneeling during the national anthem. Some 200 NFL players kneeled during the national anthem that day.

In 2014, Dani Alves, a Barcelona defender from Brazil, picked up a banana thrown at him during a game by a spectator and took a bite. Banana is a symbol of racial discrimination, comparing black people to apes. After that, many players posted a picture of themselves eating a banana, displaying their solidarity with him. Former Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung once refused to shake hands with John Terry in protest of his racist remarks, and Park Chan-ho, Major League Baseball's first Korean-born player, gave Tim Belcher a "scissor kick" for using an abusive, racist language.

Since the adoption of "International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination" by the United Nations in 1965, racial discrimination has been prohibited in almost all countries. In Korea, racial discrimination is an "act that does not need to be considered for immunity" and "act that can cause the right to claim for damages," according to professor Nam Ki-yeon of Danguk University. After African-American Tommie Smith, a 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games gold medalist in a track and field event, went to the podium wearing a black glove in protest of racial discrimination, many athletes have joined the protest against racism. It is their popularity and influence that make their protests to draw attention easily. The "kneeling protest" was another opportunity to call attention to racism once again.