A lot of Americans think, as long as they don’t actively push division and hatred in this country, they are ‘moderate.’ I’m not talking about every person with overall centrist views. I’m talking about the people who think they “don’t do politics.” People who now feel so entitled to a pleasant existence, they actually get mad at activists, or their social media feeds. People who think “well I’m just one person” and really don’t want the inconvenience of supporting those they see marginalized. Well, Jimmy Dore summed up what it means to be a moderate this week, while discussing his boycott of the NFL:

“So now I’m not watching it. If you do watch it, the NFL, you’re complicit. And that’s the decision that you are making, and that’s okay; but you just have to know that’s the decision you are making.”

Exactly. You can make all the excuses you want to, so you can play in that fantasy football league. So you can watch Sunday Gameday or whatever it is now. You can make any excuse you want, to justify buying that $60 Madden game or attending that playoff game. But you are complicit. If you don’t believe there is a reason to boycott, then you don’t believe there is a problem at all.

“There is no more neutrality in the world. You either have to be part of the solution, or you’re going to be part of the problem” – Eldridge Cleaver

While other (even more) garbage quarterbacks get chances to play in the NFL, not a single team will give a look at Kaepernick. “Moderates” sit by, doing nothing but consuming, while NFL owners actively avoid a player because of his fight for social justice. And it is about social justice; it’s not about troops, and it’s not about veterans. Please stop using us as a stand-in for your insecurity as an American. Soldiers fight for Americans to be free, which includes being able to protest peacefully without being punished.

So hide if you want to. Turn off the news and find a nice ‘reality’ TV show. But don’t act like you didn’t know what was going on – you actively chose not to.