What you may not know is how the San Francisco 49ers quarterback and nascent political activist thinks of Hillary Clinton.
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When Colin Kaepernick explained why he sat during the national anthem, he added that he was aware of the repercussions that would come with such a protest.
Hall of Fame basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, another activist from the 1960s, said it is more concerning that the country still faces numerous same issues that athletes like himself, Brown, boxer Muhammad Ali, and Olympic sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos protested almost a half-century ago. Kaepernick also joins a number of athletes in the National Basketball Association and NFL who specifically used their platforms to address the current issue of police brutality against black and brown people: the St. Louis Rams putting their hands up in solidarity with the Ferguson protestors; Lebron James wearing an “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirt in acknowledgement of the last words of Eric Garner.
In another corner, some – including activists and National Basketball Association great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – have praised him for bringing awareness to a major issue.
While Freeman says there are likely front offices that respect Kaepernick’s protest, they are statistically outnumbered.
But a large number of those who have served our country have rallied behind the San Francisco 49ers quarterback on social media using the hashtag #VeteransForKaepernick.
“It’s a misconception that every military member is furious at what his protest when there are those that are proud”. True patriotism means demanding that America live up to its promises – not blindly acquiescing in spite of its failures, especially if those failures are so directly risky to the lives and wellbeing of American citizens.
Less than one-third of the USA military identify as minorities (Blacks, Asians, American Indian, etc) and 12% are Hispanic, according to a 2014 demographics report of the military community.
At this point, this has become an issue with Kaepernick and other professional athletes egos more than anything.If you are so concerned with issues that minorities face in America, quit your job as a failed National Football League quarterback, put your millions of dollars towards the cause and subsequently run for political office.
Others echoed a solitary with his hope to end police brutality and start holding officers who murder black people at a disproportionately high rate accountable for their crimes.
More recently, National Basketball Association players including LeBron James wore “I Can’t Breathe” shirts during warm-ups to protest police killings of unarmed black men.
It’s not my intention to get into that discussion, because both sides make good points that I agree with.
Of course, nobody can force Kaepernick to respect the American flag.
A woman describing herself as a Navy wife tweeted a picture of her husband who had returned from deployment.
Recently, during an Olympic interview, Usain Bolt (a Jamaican) stopped his interview with a reporter when the US national anthem started playing.
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Kaepernick led San Francisco to the 2013 Super Bowl, but since then his status in the team has declined and he has lost his starting place.
