On Tuesday, CBS Mornings welcomed left-wing filmmaker Ava DuVernay on the broadcast to promote her new Netflix biopic series about radical activist and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. While chatting about the ultra-woke propaganda viewers could expect on the upcoming show, co-host Nate Burleson – a former NFL player – touted how the series outrageously compared the NFL scouting and drafting process to “slavery.”
“Powerhouse filmmaker Ava DuVernay teamed up with activist and former NFL star Colin Kaepernick to tell his coming of age story. Duvernay and Kaepernick are co-creators of Netflix’s Colin In Black & White,” gushed co-host Jericka Duncan in the 8:00 a.m. ET hour segment. Further acting as PR agent, she proclaimed: “The series shows how his decision to take a knee to protest police brutality and racial injustice was born in his early experiences fighting for his dreams.”
After playing a clip from the show, Duncan turned to DuVernay and cheered: “I got a chance to watch this, really well done. And I think you were able to humanize someone who’s been demonized by many.”
Despite being wildly controversial for his anti-American views, Kaepernick was treated like a victim, with DuVernay sympathizing: “...he was telling me these stories and I thought all these little microaggressions really add up to something. And that’s interesting to explore, the cumulative effect of all of the little slights that we feel.” Moments later, she happily concluded: “But everything he went through were steps on a journey that made him a singular American icon, right?”
It was at that point that millionaire former football player and current network morning show host Burleson talked to millionaire DuVernay about millionaire Kaepernick’s incendiary claims about the NFL drafting process:
And just like every other project that you do, you start off in the first episode boldly and informative. And you draw these parallels between the professional scouting process and slavery. And as a guy who played in the NFL, I remember going to pro days and the combine, sitting there with my shirt off, in shorts, and them, you know, seeing how big my hands were and how heavy I was once I got on the scale. And all of these guys with pen and paper on their pads trying to figure out if they were going to draft me or not.
He at least eventually admitted that it wasn’t quite “slavery”: “...the difference is slavery was free labor.”
DuVernay tried to justify the absurd smear:
The piece that you’re talking about, which is a comparison of the combine, that process with them measuring the black body and kind a slave auction is not about economics in the way that we put it there. It’s about social control of a black body. It’s about saying I will measure your value based on your muscles, how fast you run. So that’s the point that that’s trying to make.
Burleson agreed: “For sure.”
DuVernay gave Kaepernick full credit for the horrendous accusation: “And that was really Colin’s idea to say as the black men are being processed through this combine process, this combine experience, what that felt like to him. It felt very similar to our ancestors, who were also processed for profit.” Burleson again chimed in with support: “I agree with it.”
The filmmaker promised that the series would be filled with such unhinged rhetoric: “So he has some provocative ideas that we explore in it and it all kind of comes from his experience.”
Leftists can throw out the most vile, fact-free claims knowing their allies in the media will never challenge them and even applaud such nastiness.
This shameless promotion of such race-baiting was brought to viewers by Chevrolet and McDonald’s. You can fight back by letting these advertisers know what you think of them sponsoring such content.
Here is a full transcript of the October 26 segment:
8:17 AM ET
JERICKA DUNCAN: Powerhouse filmmaker Ava DuVernay teamed up with activist and former NFL star Colin Kaepernick to tell his coming of age story. Duvernay and Kaepernick are co-creators of Netflix’s Colin In Black & White. The scripted series follows young Colin as he navigates life as a black adopted teen into a white family. The series shows how his decision to take a knee to protest police brutality and racial injustice was born in his early experiences fighting for his dreams.
[CLIP FROM COLIN IN BLACK & WHITE]
DUNCAN: DuVernay directed the first episode of the series and all the scenes featuring Kaepernick, who narrates the show. Ava DuVernay, good morning and thank you for joining us in studio.
AVA DUVERNAY: Good morning, thank you for having me.
DUNCAN: Yeah. I got a chance to watch this, really well done. And I think you were able to humanize someone who’s been demonized by many. How did you use – or why did you decide to use his hair as a starting point, as we saw in that clip, to really explore the truth and the depths of race and identity?
DUVERNAY: Well, you know, we used his life as a springboard, his early life as a springboard to talk about larger conversations about race, class, identity, respectability. And so he was very generous and just allowing us to excavate those early years. Hair is not really hair, right? It’s a proxy to talk about so many other things as it relates to black people in American life, social control, like I said, respectability. So it felt like a good place to begin and it’s one of many different aspects of being black in America that we explore.
DUNCAN: You said that Colin’s self-love journey is what drew you to really want to work with him on this type of series.
DUVERNAY: I think, you know, he – we met each other at a Time 100 event a few years ago and he – he approached me about working together on something around his early life. At first I thought, what am I going to do with your early life? But as we got into it, he was telling me these stories and I thought all these little microaggressions really add up to something. And that’s interesting to explore, the cumulative effect of all of the little slights that we feel. And so that was the journey.
TONY DOKOUPIL: It’s incredibly interesting and really creatively told. So I think we should set up people’s expectations, right? Because when they press play, it begins with Colin talking directly to camera, almost like a documentary or like a TED Talk, and then shifts to – you’ve got Jaden Michael playing the young Colin.
DUVERNAY: Yeah.
DOKOUPIL: Why did you decide to do it that way?
DUVERNAY: Well, we wanted to not just make a doc and not just make a coming of age of a celebrity’s early life. We’ve seen both. The idea was could we put them together and weave something that was just more dynamic in the telling of a story that might seem small. It’s a kid going through kid stuff. But everything he went through were steps on a journey that made him a singular American icon, right? What are the things that make up who we are? So the goal of this is not to see this and say, this is Colin’s story. It’s like what parts of my journey can I also see in this? And a mix of formats and textures and genres seemed like a fresh way to try it.
NATE BURLESON: It is truly a hybrid. A drama, a documentary. And just like every other project that you do, you start off in the first episode boldly and informative. And you draw these parallels between the professional scouting process and slavery. And as a guy who played in the NFL, I remember going to pro days and the combine, sitting there with my shirt off, in shorts, and them, you know, seeing how big my hands were and how heavy I was once I got on the scale. And all of these guys with pen and paper on their pads trying to figure out if they were going to draft me or not.
But then as I’m watching this, I’m thinking to myself, how important is it for athletes to know, one, the process of becoming a professional athlete, like you showed. But then, two, the unique opportunity there is to create generational wealth. Because the difference is slavery was free labor. Now these young men and women who come from circumstances that might be harsh have a chance to reset financially, but have to take care of the money.
DUVERNAY: The piece that you’re talking about, which is a comparison of the combine, that process with them measuring the black body and kind a slave auction is not about economics in the way that we put it there. It’s about social control of a black body.
BURLESON: For sure.
DUVERNAY: It’s about saying I will measure your value based on your muscles, how fast you run. So that’s the point that that’s trying to make. And that was really Colin’s idea to say as the black men are being processed through this combine process, this combine experience, what that felt like to him.
BURLESON: Yeah.
DUVERNAY: It felt very similar to our ancestors, who were also processed for profit.
BURLESON: I agree with it.
DUVERNAY: For profit. So he has some provocative ideas that we explore in it and it all kind of comes from his experience.
DUNCAN: And before we go, really quickly, the next six months, you’ve got six other projects going on.DUVERNAY: I know, what’s going on?
DOKOUPIL: What is going on.
BURLESON: You’re busy.
DUVERNAY: I’m grateful, that’s what’s going on.
DOKOUPIL: We hope you come back. And Jaden Michael is amazing in this.
DUVERNAY: Isn’t he wonderful?
DOKOUPIL: Great young actor.
DUVERNAY: He’s a shining star, people will love watching him.
BURLESON: Incredible project.
DUVERNAY: Thank you.
DUNCAN: Ava DuVernay, thank you so much. Colin in Black & White premieres this Friday on Netflix.
