This week’s Famous Friday features someone who has been in the headlines quite often lately, Colin Kaepernick. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and he is of African American and European descent. From a young age he continually excelled in all sorts of sports. He is currently a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers.
If you haven’t heard, Kaepernick began a silent protest during the NFL preseason. Instead of standing for the national anthem, he takes a knee. He doesn’t do this to disrespect veterans or our military, but to protest police brutality. When asked about the reasoning behind his protest Colin said, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”
Several other NFL stars have joined in on his protest. Not only that, but athletes from college all the way down to pee-wee leagues are also taking a knee in protest. One of those protestors is Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall he said the following: “I’m not against the military. I’m not against the police or America, I’m against social injustice.”
This quote from Kaepernick really hit me, “You have people that practice law and our lawyers and go to school for eight years, but you can become a cop in six months and don’t have to have the same amount of training as a cosmetologist. That’s insane. Someone that’s holding a curling iron has more education and more training than people that have a gun and are going out on the street to protect us.” I understand that some people may have an issue with Colin’s method of protest, but I encourage you to look beyond the method and see the message Kaepernick is trying to get across.
- Lexi Brock, Project RACE Teens President
Image courtesy of slate.com