Obama, speaking with reporters in China, had a different take than the one expressed by his press secretary (h/t Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk).
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“My understanding is he’s exercising his constitutional right to make a statement”, Obama said.
“I think there’s a lot of ways you can do it”, Obama said.
Kaepernick has named police brutality and racial injustice among the reasons for his silent protest and indicated that he will keep it up during the regular season that begins September 12 with a game against the Los Angeles Rams.
Despite the controversy, Obama said he would rather have engaged young people “trying to think through how they can be part of our democratic process than people who are just sitting on the sidelines and not paying attention at all”.
Kaepernick has been accused of disrespecting his native country and also turning his back on his team-mates by not standing with them.
In support of Kaepernick’s stance, singer John Legend recently suggested that instead of “literally celebrating the murder of African Americans”, that the national anthem should change.
Kaepernick’s protests have spurred outrage in certain quarters, with some, including Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, calling for him to leave the country.
The conversation Kapernick has generated – about race, patriotism, sports protest and violence by and against police – has not been received positively by all Americans.
Blaine Gabbert beat out Kaepernick for the job, staying mostly in the background as Kaepernick made big headlines with his protest over the national anthem.
The National Football League, where Kaepernick is a backup quarterback for the San Francisco team, says that it encourages players to stand for the anthem but does not require them to do so. He and teammate Eric Reid kneeled for the anthem in San Diego, and Lane, while playing the Raiders in Oakland, was the only player known to have joined in the protest.
Kaepernick’s actions have earned him support and detractors among the military, politics, social media and other spheres of influence.
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On the flips side, several other professional athletes are following the quarterback’s lead, the most recent being soccer player Megan Rapine who kneeled as the national anthem during a game Sunday (Sept. 4).
