Like nearly everyone else, former #NFL safety, #RodneyHarrison, was asked about his thoughts on #ColinKaepernick. According to Harrison, he doesn’t consider Kaepernick, who is biracial (black and white), to be a black man. I guess he must also assume you have to be a “black man” to sympathize with black men, women and children being gunned down by police officers.
“I tell you this, I’m a black man. And Colin Kaepernick — he’s not black,” Harrison told #SportsTAlk790 in an interview Tuesday morning. “He can not understand what I face and what other young black men and black people face, or people of color face, on a every single (day) basis. When you walk in a grocery store, and you might have $2,000 or $3,000 in your pocket and you go up in to a Foot Locker and they’re looking at you like you about to steal something.”
Harrison continued, “You know, I don’t think he faces those type of things that we face on a daily basis. I’m not saying he has to be black, but I’m saying, his heart is in the right place, but even with what he’s doing, he still doesn’t understand the injustices as a black man, or people of color, that’s what I’m saying.”
My best guess is that Harrison believes that Kaepernick’s skin color does not allow him to face the same issues as a 100% black man. Many could argue that this is completely untrue. Many could argue that your financial status could have one so far removed from their “blackness.” There’s many ways to slice the pie with this way of thinking.
Kaepernick is a black man. Whether he has personally been oppressed or has witnessed his brother’s being oppressed, does not mean a thing when it comes to standing up for what is right. In fact, if Harrison considers himself the alpha and omega of black men, what has he done for his fellow black community?
Needless to say, Rodney Harrison caught hell for his views and took to Twitter to explain himself. “I never intended to offend anyone , I was trying to speak about my experiences as a African American,” he tweeted. “I apologize to anyone that I offended , wasn’t meant to be hurtful to anyone. I should not have called Colin Kaepernick’s race into question during this morning’s radio interview. It was a mistake and I apologize.”
Harrison also revealed to #Twitter that he had no idea that #Kaepernick was mixed.
Oh.
