Colin Kaepernick to Trump: 'America Has Never Been Great for People of Color'

By Bryan Armen Graham, Guardian UK

28 September 16

Kaepernick to candidate: ‘Let’s make America great for the first time’

olin Kaepernick has hit back at Donald Trump’s assertion that the quarterback “should find another country that works better for him” in response to his decision to kneel for the national anthem.

Kaepernick, whose protest has sparked a national discussion over racial injustice and inspired dozens of other professional and collegiate players to follow suit, characterized Trump’s comment as a “very ignorant statement” during Tuesday afternoon’s media availability at the 49ers’ practice facility.

“It’s a very ignorant statement that, if you don’t agree with what’s going on, hearing that if you want justice and liberty and freedom for all, then you should leave the country,” Kaepernick told reporters in a video shared by the Bay Area News Group. “He always says make America great again. Well, America has never been great for people of color. And that’s something that needs to be addressed. Let’s make America great for the first time.”

Kaepernick’s remarks came the morning after Monday’s first presidential debate, where Trumped doubled down on his call for the national introduction of “stop and frisk”, the controversial police tactic ruled unconstitutional in 2013 when a federal judge found it disproportionately targeted African American and Latino neighborhoods.

Trump first addressed Kaepernick’s protest in an appearance last month on the Dori Monson Show, a conservative afternoon talk-radio program in the Seattle area.

“I have followed it and I think it’s personally not a good thing,” the GOP candidate said. “I think it’s a terrible thing, and you know, maybe he should find a country that works better for him. Let him try: it won’t happen.”

Hall of Fame coach Mike Ditka echoed Trump’s remarks last week and said he had “no respect” for the quarterback and the players who have joined the protest.

“If they don’t like the country, if they don’t like our flag, get the hell out,” Ditka said in a radio interview on KRLD-FM in Dallas. “I have no respect for Colin Kaepernick. He probably has no respect for me, that’s his choice. My choice is that I like this country, I respect our flag, and I don’t see all the atrocities going on in this country that people say are going on.”

Kaepernick, who burst from obscurity to lead San Francisco to within five yards of a Super Bowl title during the 2012 season, has yet to take a snap in three regular-season games as a backup to starter Blaine Gabbert. He said last month he will continue to kneel until he feels the social injustices facing people of color in the United States have been addressed.

The 49ers host the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday afternoon.