Brands & Performative Activism
The NFL faces backlash and apologizes
During the summer of 2020, The Black Lives Matter Movement gained a lot of traction. Many people and celebrities began to speak up about it. Then on June 1st, there was a plan to do a blackout on instagram. Where no one posted anything but a black box with the hashtag blackouttuesday. Many black Americans spoke up against it but it still went on. That's when people started to notice performative activism happening.
Performative activism is a pejorative term referring to activism done to increase one's social capital rather than because of one's devotion to a cause. It is often associated with surface-level activism, referred to as slacktivism.
Many brands also began to speak up in support of the black lives matter movement. However, many people started to call brands hypocrites because of their actions in the past. For example, the NFL was a big target of criticism because of the way they handled Colin Kaepernick's protests in the past. In 2016, Kaepernick sat during the national anthem as a protest against police brutality and racial injustice. His protest had a wide range of reactions from people praising him to people hating him. Kaepernick then became a free agent after the season and remained unsigned due to political reasons.
Ira L. Black/Corbis VIA GETTY IMAGES
This is why many people call the NFL hypocrites for supporting black lives matter all of a sudden when they didn’t show any support for Kapernick in the past. The NFL commissioner Roger Goodwell gave a response saying “We, the NFL, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest. We, the NFL, believe Black Lives Matter... We embrace that responsibility and are committed to continuing the important work to address these systemic issues together with our players, clubs and partners."
Slide 1 & 2 Courtesy: diversifyournarrative
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