And so she, like Kaepernick, and 49er safety Eric Reid, and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane, chose to force a conversation in a move that required no words at all.
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After sitting during the anthem in the Seahawks’ final preseason game last Thursday, Lane said San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick thanked him for his support and his matching gesture. “I’m not anti-American”, Kaepernick said after the game. Lane isn’t pressuring any of his teammates to join him on the bench during the anthem, but a number of Seahawks said they support his cause. The first is that racial inequality against African-Americans is a serious issue that a mass amount of people want to end.
“How grateful are we if we do not respect the very people who have given?” And that’s OK. That’s what it’s about. “I think there is a long history of athletes doing so”. Obviously, there’s so much going on right now in America. “We’re going one day at a time with the thought that he’s going to play”. In a move the surprised some, Obama defended Kaepernick’s “constitutional right” to protest the anthem. “I don’t want to put any pressure on anyone”.
Kaepernick, Reid and Lane will have the opportunity to sit simultaneously during “The Star-Spangled Banner” when the NFC West rivals meet in Seattle on September 25.
Despite some prominent figures, including 2016 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, slamming Kaepernick for refusing to stand during the national anthem, the 49ers recently chose to keep him on their official roster.
No, standing up for the national anthem does not count. There are days when we might feel good about America, like when America, with strong help from other non-white and a few white people, elected President Barack Obama, but there are days when we don’t feel so good about America with good reason. The other third goes to the union – and some of that goes into a pool for all National Football League players. Here we finally have a person protesting racial discrimination peacefully instead of displaying the violence that we have seen from the Black Lives Matter protesters.
The NFLPA and the NFL did not immediately respond to CNNMoney’s questions about whether they would donate any money they make from the sales.
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Kaepernick announced last week his intent to give $1 million of his 2016 football earnings to charities dedicated to the issues he is spotlighting.
