United States women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe spoke out in support of Colin Kaepernick after kneeling down for the national anthem in a gesture of solidarity with the San Francisco 49ers quarterback. And Rapinoe, who plays for the Seattle Reign in the National Women’s Soccer League, told American Soccer Now afterwards that she certainly knelt during the national anthem as “a little nod to Kaepernick” – as well as to recognize that as a gay American, she believes that the country can do better for more than one traditionally marginalized demographic.
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A member of the 2015 World Cup-winning US women’s soccer team is standing, or rather kneeling, in support of Colin Kaepernick.
Kaepernick is the San Francisco 49ers quarterback who gained notoriety recently for sitting out the anthem in his team’s preseason games.
The move proved contentious, as the quarterback was immediately met with huge backlash both on and off the field.
“Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties”, Rapinoe said. “We need a more substantive conversation around race relations and the way people of color are treated”.
Texas native with a penchant for strong margaritas, early Babs and tastefully executed side-eye. “It is overtly racist. We need to have a more thoughtful, two-sided conversation about racial issues in this country”. She responded, “It’s the least I can do…”
While criticism of Kaepernick has been strong, many have defended his right to speak freely and protest peacefully – fans have voiced their support on Twitter, and celebrities have done their best to shut down the controversy. “Stay in your place, black man”. We have a lot of people that aren’t treated equally, that aren’t given equal opportunities.
“I think with Kaepernick it’s kind of interesting to see how people instead of looking at there’s a reason why he did it, they look at other things around it that don’t play a part”, Altidore told Sports Illustrated.
Rapinoe told Foudy she intends to continue her protest going forward. “Just need to accept that [it is] not ideal, things are broken”. “There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder”, he is quoted as saying.
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“People don’t realize what’s really going on in this country”, Kaepernick said, per Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com. I have to stand up for people that are oppressed.
