Writer and comedian D.L. Hughley has a pointed question for NFL players and analysts who criticized Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest: where y’all at now?
Hughley, who’s been very outspoken about police violence and the Black Lives Movement, questioned the silence of former players like Jerry Rice, Ray Lewis and Rodney Harrison, and sports analyst Jason Whitlock in the wake of the fatal shooting of Terence Crutcher by Tulsa Police.
While most of Kaepernick’s NFL colleagues criticized the QB for being disrespectful to the flag and veterans, Whitlock took things a step further, questioning his motives.
“This kid was about Instagram models, tattoos, his abs, and building up the Colin Kaepernick brand until the very moment he loses his starting quarterback job,” Whitlock said. “And now he’s out here and he’s ‘Martin Luther Cornrow.’ And he’s got cornrows, he’s Allen Iverson, he’s Angela Davis. I don’t buy it.”
Perhaps Whitlock doesn’t understand why–after seeing multiple Black Americans turned into hashtags–Kaepernick is taking a knee to protest police brutality and violence, but Hughley does. He had some harsh words for Kaepernick’s critics.
“I wish all of them–from Jerry Rice to Jason Whitlock to Ray Lewis to Rodney Harrison–who were so upset about Colin Kaepernick not standing up. I wish all of them were just as upset about Terence Crutcher getting shot down as they are about Colin Kaepernick not standing up,” Hughley said on Facebook. “I wish they were just as upset about that.”
It looks like at least one person headed Hughley’s words. Rice took to Twitter to offer his support to Kaepernick in the wake of Crutcher’s death.
https://twitter.com/JerryRice/status/778301857529606144
Despite facing harsh criticism, Kaepernick–and others like Brandon Marshall–have decided to sit out the anthem. Back in August, the 49ers star explained exactly why he refuses to stand.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said during a press conference. “There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
Any more questions?
