Colin Kaepernick’s brave stance on bringing attention to the injustices happening in black and brown communities in the U.S. has been met with both support and opposition. On the side of sports, a few athletes lined up in solidarity with the San Francisco 49ers QB, while others decided to speak out against Kaepernick’s actions.
Although NFL star Cam Newton came under fire for his recent comments on race, the Carolina Panther quarterback is seeing Kaepernick’s decision through his point of view.
“I salute my brother @kaepernick7 for making a stand for injustice in this country but….,” Newton begins, “the real problem is and will always be the people; and how we treat one another!”
Newton also highlighted recent media reports that stated he and Kaepernick had an issue during their Sunday (Sept. 18) match up. “I see a lot of memes and even articles about Cam vs. Kap; are they ok?” he writes. “But the truth is we are good and will always be good… We all are different and have the right to fill (sic) anyway we want to… And I salute him for standing (in this case kneeling) for something to if not to fix the issues; raise awareness of the issues.”
Although Newton previously stated that the country as a whole is “beyond” race, he did acknowledge that he’s a black man in America. “I’m an African American; That’s Black and proud to the day I die and I try to make an impact in my community as much as I can, how are you making a difference?”
In response to the death threats Kaepernick has received since his stance was made public, the 49er had this to say. “There’s a lot of racism disguised as patriotism in this country,” he said. “People don’t like to address that, and they don’t like to address what the root of this protest is.”