Colin Kaepernick is a quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers and his actions this week put him squarely in the crossfire of controversy. Before every pre-season game this season, he decided to sit for the national anthem. This time, however, a reporter spotted it and “broke the story.” Following this week’s game against the Green Bay Packers, Kaepernick’s locker was surrounded by a swarm of reporters with lots of questions. \u00a0Kaepernick answered every question and spoke for more than 18 minutes. \u00a0I hope you can watch at least some of the 18 minute video below, but here is some of what he had to say.<\/p>\n
“There are a lot of things that are going on that are unjust, people aren’t being held accountable for, and that’s something that needs to change.\u00a0That’s something that-this country stands for freedom, liberty, justice for all. And it’s not happening for all right now.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n “There have been situations where I feel like I’ve been ill-treated, yes. But this stand wasn’t for me. This stand wasn’t because I feel like I’m being put down in any kind of way.\u00a0This is because I’m seeing things happen to people that don’t have a voice, people that don’t have a platform to talk and have their voices heard and affect change.\u00a0So I’m in a position where I can do that and I’m going to do that for people that can’t.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n “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.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n “Yes. I’ll continue to sit. I’m going to stand with the people that are being oppressed. To me this is something that has to change and when there’s significant change and I feel like that flag represents what it’s supposed to represent in this country-is representing the way that it’s supposed to-I’ll stand.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n