Former NFL quarterback Colin Kapernick accused his adoptive parents of “perpetuating racism,” in an interview that aired Thursday.
Kaepernick talked about coming to terms with his racial identity while growing up in a White family in his new graphic novel, “Change the Game.” The former football player recalled disagreements with his parents that he attributed to racism, calling his upbringing “problematic.”
“I know my parents loved me. But they were still very problematic things that I went through,” the biracial quarterback said to CBS News.
“I think it was important to show that, no, this can happen in your own home, and how we move forward collectively while addressing the racism that is being perpetuated,” he added.
Colin Kaepernick arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of Netflix’s “Colin In Black And White” at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on October 28, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevin Winter/WireImage)
Kaepernick illustrated one specific example of this in the novel, depicting a fight he had with his parents during high school over his hairstyle.
Inspired to braid his hair in cornrows like his hero, NBA star Allen Iverson, Kaepernick recalled received pushback from is parents.
“He’s getting what rolls?” his mom says in the graphic novel.
Kaepernick said that after styling his hair this way his mom warned his hair was “not professional” and he “looked like a little thug.”
(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
The former football player turned social justice activist said these teenage interactions helped shape his decisions as an adult to embrace his ethnicity.
“Those become spaces where it’s like, okay, how do I navigate the situation now? But it also has informed why I have my hair long today,” Kaepernick told CBS.
The former ’49ers player drew national attention when he started protesting the National Anthem, kneeling on the field during NFL games to protest police brutality and racism.
Kaepernick and others began kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 to protest social injustice and police brutality. ((AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File))
Since then, he has partnered with Netflix for a docudrama series based on his life, and with Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for it’s non-dairy flavor “Change the Whirled.” He has also made endorsement deals with Nike, and other major companies over the years.
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