Colin Kaepernick, others who didn't vote in 2016 election must do so now

Programming note: Watch the full interview with Nate Boyer and Charles Woodson on tonight’s episode of “Race In America: A Candid Conversation” on NBC Sports Bay Area at 8 p.m., hosted by Monte Poole and Logan Murdock.

Nate Boyer, the retired Army Green Beret and occasional consultant to Colin Kaepernick, concedes he was disappointed by one admission made by the former 49ers quarterback.

Kaepernick didn’t vote in the 2016 election.

“That was one of the few things that Colin said that bothered me,” Boyer says. “And I wish he didn’t say it. I don’t know how he feels about it now; maybe he feels the same way. I understand why he said it, that he wouldn’t vote because of the way the system is set.

“But that’s also how you change the system.”

I’m with Boyer. So is former Raiders star Charles Woodson, who joined Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks and Boyer on the panel of next episode of “Race In America: A Candid Conversation,” televised Friday night at 8 on NBC Sports Bay Area.

“This year is a presidential election year, so it’s going to be doubly important that people go out and vote,” Woodson says. “In my opinion, there’s certainly change that needs to take place in this country.”

Those of us longing for the greater humanity that can only come from continued social/racial progress -- a cause for which Kaepernick is a leading symbol -- should all be with Boyer here.

[RACE IN AMERICA: Listen to the latest episode]

Limited in 2016 to two realistic presidential options, Hillary Clinton from the Democratic party and Donald Trump from the Republican, Kaepernick was among millions, mostly in the under-30 demographic, who opted out of the voting process.

Their disillusionment was understandable. Clinton was unpopular among many and invited such regressive actions as a draconian crime bill that was more particularly punitive to people of color. Trump was a racist of such verifiable degree that he received the full public support of David Duke, who has spent most of his life on the Top 10 list of America’s most odious bigots.

In short, it was easy to throw up hands and turn away.

That, however, is wrong in countless ways.

History has taught us that there is no progress in America without action. Rosa Parks took action on a bus in 1955 and one year later, African-Americans had the legal right to sit in any seat on any bus. Sit-ins and rallies and economic withholding nudged America to the Civil Rights Bill. Baseball star Curt Flood’s one-man strike, based on the insistence to choose his employer, led America to free agency in sports. Muhammad Ali boycotted the Vietnam War and was abused by the system – until vindicated came through the United States Supreme Court.

There are numerous instances for which boycotts forced societal progress. Never, though, has boycotting the ballot box been among them.

The public execution of George Floyd in Minneapolis exactly one month ago has led us to a national rebellion that has evolved into a global movement. The multigenerational, multigenerational energy in the streets here and beyond has been incredible and encouraging, indicative that real progress is ahead. We’re already seeing it in some places, particularly the accountability of law enforcement officers.

“We can’t feel like somebody getting arrested is enough,” Rooks says. “We can’t feel like somebody getting fired from their job is enough.

“That endurance, that momentum, comes from needing more and more and more, until it’s actual justice. How can we have long-lasting change? How can we push people to vote to create long-lasting change? How can we push people keep wanting things like police reform that would inevitably lead to long-lasting change? It’s about keeping our foot on the gas, and not settling, not being satisfied with the symbol of something.”

[RELATED: Woodson wants Kaepernick's kneeling understood]

Even with a political system working overtime to suppress the vote and already gerrymandered to disfigurement, voting remains our loudest legal voice. There are signs in the current movement that all people will be more active in the process.

“For a long time, until Barack (Obama in 2008), I wouldn’t vote because I didn’t have an electoral vote,” Woodson said. “And I understood the electoral vote is what wins the election.

“The important thing about voting -- and this is something I certainly have to get better at as well – is voting in the local elections, those off-year elections. Because if you want change in your community, in your city, it’s going to be those local politicians.”

The younger sector of Millennials and most of Generation Z seem to be warming to the notion of voting. They recognize the obvious issues, and they’ve experienced President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and response to COVID-19.

Let’s hope Kaepernick votes. Let’s hope for the biggest turnout in American history. The more people who participate, the more accurate the view of what this country is about.