Carmelo Anthony says he supports Colin Kaepernick’s stance
By Andre Pruitt
Carmelo Anthony speaks on Colin Kaepernick’s protest.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been taking a stand –or kneel, if you will –for a while now. Kaepernick and so many other athletes each week have been making headlines over the last month or so for kneeling while the national anthem is being played before their respective games. As we all know by now, the reason he has been kneeling, he said, was to take a stand for minorities who face systemic oppression in our country.
As many would have guessed, Kaepernick’s stance has received some praise, but a lot of criticism as well. The 49ers quarterback initially started out his protest by sitting altogether during the anthem, though he reverted to just kneeling when he realized that that was a way to be less disrespectful. Though, that hasn’t stopped Kaepernick from receiving death threats, according to the man himself.
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Many professional athletes have been defending Kaepernick throughout all of this, and now we can add New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony to list, who has been active himself with regards to this discussion.
As reported by Al Iannazzone of newsday.com, Anthony recently spoke on Kaepernick’s protest during the New York Knicks’ training camp.
Anthony stated, “I don’t even know if people understood what was behind it. So a lot of people turned their back on him, was calling him all types of names, that he’s stupid for doing what he was doing. But it’s not until you really get to the nitty-gritty of what he’s trying to say and what his message is . . . I support him, to be honest with you. I support the courage that he had to take that stance on the level that he’s taking it.”
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Anthony seems to be able to reason with Kaepernick’s stance. He understands the issues that need to be addressed, while others seem to be missing the point and are quick to point out Kaepernick’s stance as a perceived disrespect of America.
If anything, seeing the responses from superstars outside of the NFL has been interesting and is definitely something to keep an eye on going forward.