Colin Kaepernick, quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, explained his decision not to vote in last week’s presidential election by saying he didn’t want to be a hypocrite.
“You know, I think it would be hypocritical of me to vote,” Kaepernick said to reporters Sunday after the game, CNN reported. “I said from the beginning I was against oppression, I was against the system of oppression. I’m not going to show support for that system. And to me, the oppressor isn’t going to allow you to vote your way out of your oppression.”
Kaepernick attracted intense media attention in August when he began to sit, then kneel while the national anthem was being played before the games. The biracial athlete said he “didn’t want to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses back people and people of color.” Other athletes followed suit, but many fans criticized Kaepernick for his stance.
Kaepernick has reported that he has even had death threats for his actions, and President-elect Trump suggested that the player “find a country that works better for him,” USA Today reported.
At the time of the election, Kaepernick said in a conference call to media that it didn’t matter to him who won the election, because he didn’t think either candidate would change the system of oppression that he felt currently existed.
“The system still remains intact that oppresses people of color,” Kaepernick said, according to ESPN.
Kaepernick’s explanation didn’t go over well with ESPN host Stephen A. Smith, however, who called his failure to vote “shameful” and said the NFL quarterback was “irrelevant” and that Smith didn’t want to “hear from him again,” CBS News reported.
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