A decade after Kaepernick’s quiet protest shook the NFL, his exile looks less like an aberration than a blueprint for the culture war that followed

America likes nice round numbers, perfect for anniversaries and reflections, and it has, suddenly, been 10 years since Colin Kaepernick first protested police killings – more accurately, police killings of Black people that went unpunished either internally or by the courts – by taking a knee during the national anthem for the entirety of the 2016 NFL regular season. He never played in the league again.

Ten years covers a lot of ground, especially in these years of American darkness, and many of the important details surrounding Kaepernick, his banishment and significance have disappeared, time replaced by more time and more darkness – time moving faster than ever, at internet speed, where nothing matters, where nothing sticks. We consume by clip, by click, by meme, and knowledge by meme is not knowledge at all.

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© Composite: Guardian Design

© Composite: Guardian Design

© Composite: Guardian Design

Republicans hold their trolls close. For Democrats, it’s more complicated.

© Nic Antaya for The New York Times

Instead of rallying around their candidates, Democrats are falling out among themselves.

© Daniel Ribar for The New York Times

The top Democrats will gather party donors on Sept. 10, just as Republicans converge in Texas for their unusual midterm convention.

© The New York Times, left, Agence France-Presse — Getty Images