Several days later, and Colin Kaepernick is still getting talked about for refusing to stand during the singing of the national anthem at a NFL preseason game.
However, Kaepernick has a friend in acclaimed director and filmmaker Spike Lee, who says what Kaepernick is doing is nothing new.
During a Monday night episode on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” Lee said that he supports the San Francisco 49ers quarterback’s form of protest, adding that it’s in the same tradition of previous black athletes that took a stance against racial issues in America.
“I find it so interesting how people wanna pick and choose what rights people have,” Lee said to host Anderson Cooper. “Anytime you wanna talk about anti-gun violence, people running around screaming about they don’t want their second amendment rights being infringed upon.”
He continues:
“The same way John Carlos, Tommie Smith raised their black gloved fists in the ‘68 Olympics in Mexico. The same way Muhammad Ali refused to fight in the Vietnam War. These are rights that Americans have.”
Lee also went on to discuss the consequences Kaepernick might face, referencing Ali’s five year prison sentence, being fined for $10,000 and getting banned from boxing for three years for refusing to fight in the Vietnam War.
“They all do, but these brothers do it just knowing that there’s gonna be ramifications and they don’t care, because this is their belief,” he said. “It’s all an individual choice, but when someone has the courage to step out knowing they’re gonna lose all that, why are you gonna jump on the brotha’ man?”
The Kaepernick fiasco began when the quarterback didn’t stand for the national anthem before a Friday night NFL preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. When questioned about his actions Kaepernick said:
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder…I am not looking for approval. I have to stand up for people that are oppressed. If they take football away, my endorsements from me, I know that I stood up for what is right.”
The post Spike Lee Compares Kaepernick Protest To Muhammad Ali appeared first on Okayplayer.
