An NFL Jersey for a Boy

My 12 y/o son will enter the 7th grade this fall. He is an eclectic kid. He has a gift with animals (I'm hoping for a future vet). He loves all things sports (I explained he needs to work hard if he wants more reps as a CB on his football team). And he reads Stephen King (some, but not all, books have been approved).

He also has a big heart. Not so much on a day-to-day basis with his younger brother, or with us when we bark about his XBox activity, but with bigger issues in life. As an example, he asked Santa for a Pat Tillman jersey two years ago. Santa was happy to bring that. My kid wore that jersey to "Jersey Day" at our high school's basketball camp two years ago and won a prize. The varsity basketball coach gave a speech to the whole camp about that Tillman jersey. My son came home with a huge smile and we all shared in that happy memory.

In the last couple months, my son has absorbed all the news about social unrest/protests and has developed some firm opinions. This is tough because he's 12 and does not have much depth of experience to help frame his views. But that's the beauty of fervent youthful idealism. He's prone to having very big views without being able to give much context to them. But sometimes context doesn't matter. And what's right is what's right.

My son just asked us for a Colin Kaepernick jersey for his 13th birthday. I asked him why he wants that jersey and he gave a factual and lucid argument about Colin's rights to protest, and his belief in the cause Colin is/was supporting. I tested his rationale, and he had an appropriate response. And it really is that simple. He is aware of Colin's courage and strength of character and wants to support it.

My wife is a bit nervous about the purchase. She thinks it might invite unwanted comments. But we live in a very understanding town and he has a (relatively) charmed life in an upper middle class suburb with a ~99% white population. We are not south of the Mason-Dixon line and Trump signs are few and far between by us. The odds of an uncomfortable confrontation are low. But they are not zero. He may face verbal abuse from a bigot. He knows that, yet he still wants that jersey.

My son is no hero. But he wants one of his birthday gifts to relay a social justice statement to his community. And I'll accept that as an earnest first step forward towards adulthood.