Colin Kaepernick

Orthodoxy in Dialogue’s readers will recall our chronicle of Rod Dreher’s hatred of Africans and African-Americans. 

He has done it again, this time by celebrating the 4th of July with an article bearing the libelous, violence-inciting title, Colin Kaepernick Hates America. In response to Kaepernick’s tweet,

in which he echoes the great Frederick Douglass’ immortal “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” (movingly performed by several of Douglass’ young descendants at NPR), Mr. Dreher rejoinders with:

Well, okay then, you multimillionaire ingrate.

For all its faults, this country has made you richer and freer than anywhere else on earth. 

Let us translate this for you: You rich sonofab*tch n*gg*r, with all the money we white people give you, just get up off your knee, sit down, and shut up.

Shut up, that is, about the centuries of murderous violence to which Kaepernick’s own people have been, and continue to be, subjected every single day in “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

This, even by Mr. Dreher’s usual septic tank standards, is about as low as we have seen him squat.

Rod Dreher—for those of you who don’t know—is an Orthodox Christian. 

Yet, in our Rod Dreher Glorifies Colonialism, Adds African Barbarians to List of People Who Terrify Him, we report that, in 2017, he wrote an article falsely accusing an African-American professor of promoting the murder of white people. His article prompted a series of death threats against the professor which were serious enough to warrant a constant police presence around his home. Dreher remained unapologetic when informed of the danger to which his mendacious words had exposed the professor.

This is the classic definition of incitement to violence.

Now he does it again. America’s alt-right, assault rifle-slinging, white nationalist, neo-Nazi crazies need hear nothing more than Colin Kaepernick Hates America! For all of Dreher’s crocodile tears that he is nothing like Trump, his rhetoric—especially in this fragile George Floyd era—is just like Trump’s, but all the worse for coming from the keyboard of a practicing, communing Orthodox Christian.

Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese—following in the footsteps of his holy predecessor, Archbishop Iakovos of thrice-blessed memory—has marched with our African-American brothers and sisters to proclaim in word and deed that Black Lives Matter. His Eminence has also refuted Mr. Dreher’s divisive, anti-Christian, anti-Orthodox “BenOp” gibberish. (His Eminence expresses himself more elegantly and subtly than we do.)

We at Orthodoxy in Dialogue stand with our friend and brother, Mr. Kaepernick—and we kneel with him. We believe that most Orthodox Christians in America join us.

We appeal to Metropolitan Tikhon of the Orthodox Church in America, Archbishop Alexander of the Diocese of the South (who has gone on record warning his flock against another Orthodox internet personality), and Father Joshua Trant of St. Matthew the Apostle Mission in Baton Rouge, to call Rod Dreher to public repentance for his repeated, open displays of racism and inciteful rhetoric.

You may join your voices to ours by contacting Metropolitan Tikhon at metropolitan@oca.org, Archbishop Alexander at alexander@bdoca.org, and Father Trant at jstrant@gmail.com. (All email addresses are publicly listed on the OCA website.)

Giacomo Sanfilippo, Editor

See the White Supremacy and Racism section in our Archives 2017-19 and Archives 2020.

Giacomo Sanfilippo is an Orthodox Christian, PhD student in Theological Studies at Trinity College in the University of Toronto, and founding editor of Orthodoxy in Dialogue.

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