Kapernick was blacklisted.
Six decades ago, entertainers including comedians, actors, directors and writers lost their jobs for no apparent good reason. But there was a reason particularly in the movie studio business. These performers were on a blacklist and were thought to have ties to communism. Beginning in 1938, Congress looked into the Hollywood film industry for people who they thought were somehow linked to the Soviet Union. Walt Disney in 1941 brought it up a notch by insisting that Communist agitation was behind a cartoonist strike at his business. In 1946, the Hollywood Reporter named people whom the publisher William Wilkerson thought were communist sympathizers. This would continue for years and would see actors and writers and movie studios turn in people who they thought were communists, Ronald Reagan was convinced that there were communists in the film industry but had problems naming them before the House on Un-American Activities Committee in 1947. Reagan was the head of the Screen Actors Guild.
In 2017, the National Football League owners blacklisted Colin Kaepernick for his views. Kaepernick decided not to stand at attention during the playing of the National Anthem protesting the treatment of African Americans by police. Kapernick’s performance had dropped and was viewed as a troublemaker by the public, but not his teammates. He opted out of his contract and could not find work. The NFL cannot admit he was blacklisted. Baseball had a problem in 2004 with Carlos Delgado. Athletes, as a rule, don’t cause problems by questioning policies. Toronto Blue Jays baseball player Carlos Delgado took an anti-Iraq war stand and refused to stand for the seventh inning God Bless America ceremony. In 2005, he joined the New York Mets, Delgado or employee 21 stopped the protests, Mets owner Jeff Wilpon told him show respect for the country. Wilpon didn’t want Delgado to express his opinion. Athletes should be seen but not heard.
Kaepernick is not wanted.
