The fallout from Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the Star-Spangled Banner continues, with the social activist and former Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown backing the player “100%”.
Kaepernick has received criticism from figures as varied as Donald Trump and Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh over what he says is a protest against the oppression of African Americans in the United States.
On Monday night, Brown gave support to Kaepernick. “He’s within his rights, and he’s telling the truth as he sees it. I am with him 100%,” Brown said on the NFL Network.
Brown said he would not have chosen the same method as Kaepernick, but said the issues he raised are vital. “The No1 issue in the country for me is black homicide, young black men killing young black men,” Brown said. The Hall of Fame running back added that athletes such as Kaepernick can play an important role in shaping society. “The young men of today are stepping up,” Brown said. “For so many years they did not step up.”
In a strange episode on Tuesday, the former New England Patriots star Rodney Harrison said Kaepernick didn’t understand the issues because he is “not black”. Kaepernick was born to a white mother and a black father, and was adopted by white parents.
“I tell you this, I’m a black man. And Colin Kaepernick, he’s not black. He cannot understand what I face and what other young black men and black people face, or people of color face, on a [daily] basis,” Harrison, who is now a TV analyst, said on SportsTalk790. “When you walk in a grocery store, and you might have $2,000 or $3,000 in your pocket and you go up in to a Foot Locker and they’re looking at you like you’re about to steal something.”
Harrison later rowed back on his statement, saying he did not know that Kaepernick was “mixed”.
Last point I want people to know. I never even knew he was mixed.
— Rodney Harrison (@Rodney_Harrison) August 30, 2016
