Rodney Harrison isn’t exactly onboard with Colin Kaepernick’s decision to sit during the national anthem in protest of what he considers to be the mistreatment of minorities in the United States.
Because as far as Harrison is concerned, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback can’t fully relate.
“I’ll tell you this, I’m a black man. And Colin Kaepernick — he’s not black. He can not understand what I face and what other young black men and black people face, or people of color face, on a every single (day) basis,” Harrison said Tuesday during a radio interview with KBME in Houston. “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. I don’t think he faces those types of things that we face on a daily basis.
“So if he really wants to make change, maybe what he needs to do is write a check out of that $11 million salary that he’s making and maybe donate it toward a cause or something like that for people that are fighting (against) injustices against people of color. That’s how you make change.”
For those who don’t know, Kaepernick, who was adopted by white parents when he was younger, is biracial. He comes from a biologically white mother and black father.
This has been pointed out by many amid the ongoing national anthem controversy, but Harrison’s stance definitely will generate more buzz, even if the former NFL safety/current NBC analyst did preface his opinion by saying he thought Kaepernick’s “heart is in the right place.”
“I’m not saying he has to be black. But I’m saying, his heart is in the right place, but even with what he’s doing, he still doesn’t understand the injustices that we face as a black man, or people of color, that’s what I’m saying,” said Harrison, who added the timing was bad for a team, like the Niners, that has plenty of on-field issues to worry about, too. “It’s one of those things where it’s a very sensitive topic.”
Check out Harrison’s full take in the player below.
UPDATE, (Tuesday, 2:15 p.m. ET): Harrison took to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon to explain himself after facing some backlash over his controversial interview.
Thumbnail photo via Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports Images
