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The Knee on DEI’s Neck: A Call to Conscience
The Knee as Symbol: Justice or Suppression
The knee has become one of the most powerful symbols in America’s ongoing struggle over justice, equity, and inclusion.
On May 25, 2020, the knee of an officer took George Floyd’s life — pressing down on his neck for nearly nine minutes while the world watched. It was a chilling act of domination and dehumanization, an unmistakable signal that some lives could be extinguished in plain sight without consequence.
Four years earlier, in a stadium filled with tens of thousands, Colin Kaepernick also took a knee — but for a wholly different purpose. His was an act of solidarity, a symbolic gesture against racial injustice, police brutality, and the denial of equality. It was quiet, dignified, and profoundly non-violent. Yet for daring to challenge the national conscience, Kaepernick’s professional career was targeted, marginalized, and effectively erased from the league.
Two knees. One to crush life; the other to call for life to be valued. One to enforce supremacy; the other to plead for justice.
Today, we see both knees echoed in policy and governance.
Song: The Knee https://youtu.be/VxoI0UqZEcc
The “knee” of this administration is pressing down on DEI — not with physical…
