San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick warms up before an NFL football game earlier this year. (Courtesy: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)
(Sam Kumar, Reno Gazette-Journal) – Last week, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick — and former Nevada Wolf Pack star — announced that starting next season he will stand for the national anthem instead of taking a knee. Curiously, this decision comes on the heels of his announcement that he will be opting out of his contract to become a free agent (translation: he is looking for a job). Kaepernick, as you may recall, had been sitting or kneeling when the national anthem was played. In addition to kneeling for the national anthem, Kaepernick was also seen wearing socks that depicted police as pigs and a T-shirt with a picture of Fidel Castro. It was also revealed that he was never registered to vote anywhere. In essence, Kaepernick, who complains about oppression of blacks and minorities, had the chance to vote for America’s first black president twice and took a proverbial knee on both occasions.
Let us review the facts regarding Kaepernick’s perceived oppression and crime. FBI data on crime in 2015 (most recent data) shows that 15.8% of white victims were killed by blacks and 8.6% of black victims were killed by whites. Close to 90% of black homicides are black on black and over 80% of white homicides are white on white. Black population is only 13% of the total U.S. population, however, it accounts for 52% of the total homicides committed, with close to 90% of that being black on black homicides.
