Colin Kaepernick had the Internet buzzing after his preseason game Friday night, and it wasn’t about his performance. During the national anthem, while the rest of the stadium stood up to show pride in their country, Kaepernick stayed seated. Explaining the gesture, Kaepernick said that he had decided to remain seated as a statement against racial oppression.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” he told NFL Media in an interview published on Saturday.
“To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way,” he continues. “There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder. If they take football away, my endorsements from me, I know that I stood up for what is right.”
When the interview broke. Fans showed their appreciation for the San Francisco quarterback on Twitter, and even detailing that this isn’t Colin’s first national anthem protest.
Colin Kaepernick is about to be the media's next big target, but I'm sure he knows this and doesn't care, I respect him for that
— Okera J (PHI: 0-0) (@OkeraJ) August 27, 2016
He's actually done it all preseason. No one noticed. First time in uniform was last night. https://t.co/rkNrPgHZrz
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 27, 2016
I've been low key waiting for a reason to cop those fire black and red 49ers jerseys and Colin Kaepernick just gave me a reason
— Kazeem Famuyide (@RealLifeKaz) August 27, 2016
If your response to Colin #Kaepernick is "leave the country" because you don't agree with him, you have no idea what "freedom" means.
— Greg Benson (@Gregulator614) August 27, 2016
Colin Kaepernick, truth-teller.
— deray mckesson (@deray) August 27, 2016