Bomani summed it up well.
This excerpt sums it up. No need to window dress anything.
Ross and Jay-Z got rich because, duh, that was the point. That is what they’re about first and foremost, like most great athletes are dedicated to their craft above all else. No one gets from Detroit or the Marcy Projects to Park Avenue by accident. They did what it took to get there, and they’ll do more to stay. To expect anything else is naive.
But for men like them to position themselves as anything else is disingenuous. When in conflict with the president, Ross has chosen his friend and what that friend can do for him over his purported principles. While Jay’s support for Kaepernick was almost certainly genuine, he is in bed with Kap’s primary enemies, those who fought the hardest to silence him and his message.
No matter where Jay started, he’s now got more in common with NFL owners than with NFL players. His perspective is informed by his past and, presumably, his blackness, but his actions are largely determined by his present and his portfolio. He’s a billionaire like Stephen Ross and his buddies, and now they’re all doing business. And maybe Ross and Jay-Z can play both sides, helping the world and making beaucoup profits at the same time.
But if they’re forced to choose one, it’s pretty clear which way Ross and Jay-Z will go — the same way they’ve always gone, the one that made them billionaires. How that will play out remains to be seen.